Cowboys and Huntsmen
by A Stern Glare
Summary: Dear Jaune and Roman Torchwick, we regret to inform you that your father, Solomon Torchwick was killed in the line of duty, protecting the people of Farwoods, and has been rewarded for his bravery and valor with the Menagerian Medal of Bravery. We hope that you will be able to return to attend his funeral and retrieve his belongings, until then, we apologize for your loss.
1. Chapter 1

Jaune Arc's father was a horrible man who lived and breathed by two rules...

Do not speak unless spoken to.

Obey orders without question.

The rules were slammed into his son, Jaune's, head almost as often as his father's fist was, after a long day out _patrolling,_ Jaune's father would come home furious, drunk and poorer, and his family would go to sleep bruised and crying. Suffice to say that there would be no tears at his funeral, and even that was in no way an understatement. In fact, the man's wake would resemble Mardi Gras. However, many of the lessons his father had taught him stayed firmly ingrained...for a little while...

Jaune could easily see himself coming back to life just to recite those words if his father commanded it. That's just the way it was in the Arc household. The only thing Jaune feared was Richard Arc.

But one day soon, even that fear would pass.

"It's breakfast dear!" Jaune's mother called out to him, her voice bright and cheery, despite her condition. Jaune stood silently and frowned, stretching his back with a couple of satisfied pops and a single resounding crack. He quickly dressed and stumbled down the stairs, his eyes dull. "How did you sleep, dear?"

"Very well, mother, thank you." Jaune's mother smile turned bleak as she passed Jaune a plate of fried potatoes and different kinds of meats and eggs. Jaune delved into the meal with ferocity and quickly passed the plate back to his mother as he reached for his jacket. Upon stepping outside, and meeting his father in the garden, stopped to shiver at the sight of his father. A Goliath of a man swung a huge broadsword through a thick wooden dummy, cleaving it in two before looking over his shoulder and growling at the sight of Jaune.

"You're really going to go through with this harebrained scheme to go to a huntsmen academy?" Jaune's father asked. Jaune nodded slowly and his father sighed. "Fine, today we'll teach you how to take a beating."

Jaune grimaced. He had been learning that lesson for years. His father had only ever taught him to withstand the hits, not to dodge. To retaliate would only make it worse.

Richard hefted a blunt piece of roughly carved wood and slammed it across the blonde boy's side, sending him hurtling into the tree line. "You're no son of mine. My child would never go against my will."

Without a doubt, the neighbors were not only astounded, they were disgusted by Richard Arc, a man who had once been a warrior of high caliber. Beating his son bloody was a common occurrence in the small town, and day in and day out, people would walk past, pretending not to see the slumped, emaciated boy hobble back to the house, like a masochistic marionette, the boy never seemed to learn, but today would take a very different turn.

A Grimm incursion this far from the Capitol of Menagerie was no surprise, however, one of this magnitude was entirely unprecedented. The militia rallied and the village huntsman was called, however, it was too late for Richard Arc. The brute suffered a grievous wound and was bedridden for the rest of his short and miserable days. He withered and died, his body buried with Crocea Mors firmly in his grip, unwilling to allow Jaune, a child with "no potential", to bear a weapon of such 'prestige'.

This caused one particular guests at the funeral to stare balefully at the coffin as shook his head in disappointment. The Arc patriarch never deserved to become a soldier, much less the Huntsman he pretended to be.

"Jaune Arc?" The huntsman asked, looking down at the hunched, quivering figure of the boy. Without looking up, the boy responded.

"Yes sir."

"My name is Solomon Torchwick, it's a pleasure to meet you, nephew." The man leaned down and hefted Jaune up, holding him almost like one would a toddler against his deceptively frail looking frame. With a profound swagger in his steps and a rather placid smile on his face, Solomon placed his Stetson on Jaune's long golden locks and walking pointedly toward his faithful old hog; Jerusalem.

Jaune simply bobbed along silently, internally shaking in fear as he was carried away by a man he hardly knew. Jaune tried to speak up, he wanted with all his heart to ask a question, but his father's constant reprimanding left him paralyzed in fear. Solomon placed Jaune on Jerusalem and slid on behind him, removing the Stetson from Jaune's head and giving him a simple brain pan helmet before revving the engine and riding off into the moonrise...

"...and now I'm here." Jaune murmured, looking dejectedly into his only friend, the trash can.

"Well, I guess the view isn't for everyone." Another blonde behind him said, far too peppy for Jaune's taste. "But I do like his hat."

"Notorious criminal, Roman Torchwick..." Jaune gave another heave and sighed dejectedly, tears stinging in his eyes as he ran his hand along the explosive burn mark along his chest.

"Welcome to Beacon Academy-"

"Who's that?" The blonde asked, tilting her head to the side.

"My name is Glynda Goodwitch."

"Oh." She nodded, but at this point, Jaune had once again begun to heave into his friendly neighborhood trash receptacle. He felt another movement in his lower stomach until a firm hand rubbed circles along his back, causing his stomach to quietly growl and recede into it's den.

He finally felt well enough to lean back and send a thanks to his knight in shining armor, only for the green-clad boy to hand him a small tablet and a bottle of water. "The green pill will help with the stomach pain, and the blue one is a mint."

"Hey! Ren! Ren! Ren! Ren! Ren!" A bubbly orange haired girl called from behind the boy, drawing him away as Jaune nodded in thanks. "Look! You see the forests?! They're going to be so fun! We should go exploring!"

"Thank you..." Jaune whispered, his throat finally unclenching as the boy walked away to stand beside the other girl. After quickly downing the pill and draining the water bottle, Jaune sighed as he already felt his stomach settle as the door opened.

Jaune threw away the bottle at the trash can outside the ship and popped the mint into his gullet, surprised as it began to dissolve on it's own, aromatizing his entire mouth with crisp, chilly mint and something else...something spicy. "Mm, Peppermint..."

A small explosion rocked the pavilion as students began to quickly part around a small crater in the concrete. Jaune tried to blink away the ringing in his ears, but he wasn't used to such loud noises. The loudest thing in Farwoods was the distant roar of the occasional Belloworm and the discharging of a lever action shotgun that Jaune prided himself on altering to fit his needs. A huge dust explosion this nearby was a major blow to the eardrums.

As Jaune approached the pair of girls in the epicenter of the blast, his ears still ringing, he noticed them yelling mutely at each other through the smoke and ringing. He saw their mouths moving, but he couldn't make out quite what they were saying. I don't like where this is heading. Jaune thought to himself. The scene brought to mind the squabbling townsfolk in Farwoods that Solomon, (or uncle Sam as he insisted) usually had to separate before blows were traded.

Jaune's ears stopped ringing as he stepped between the two, putting on his most placating smile. "Hey hey hey hey hey! Let's please calm down! I think this whole thing can be cleared right up, can't it?"

"This dunce wasn't watching where she was going and she knocked my dust all over the ground. This caused one of my vials to unseal and she had to go and blow it up!" The angry white haired girl said, her voice laced with venom. "Why am I even explaining this to you?! Who're you?"

"Jaune Arc! Maybe we should hear from Lil' Red before we hop to any conclusions. Then we can work this out, head over to the cafeteria and grab ourselves something to drink, eh?" Jaune tried his best to diffuse the situation before someone else could explode.

"I was just standing here! Honestly! My sister pulled on my hood and tripped me and I bumped into her luggage- and I'm really sorry!" The short haired girl supplied, looking between the two, panicked. "Please?"

"I wouldn't expect much from Weiss Schnee, heiress of the Schnee Dust Company." An enigmatic black haired girl drawled, her face drawn into a quietly mischievous smirk.

"Thank you! Some recognition." The heiress hailed, pivoting on the ball of her foot.

"The same company notorious for it's questionable business associates-" Blake continued, but Jaune interrupted her.

"It doesn't matter who she is. _God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34-35)_. Your title is huntress-in-training Weiss Schnee, Huntress first, Schnee last." Jaune stated, looking between the black haired girl who looked shocked to have been interrupted and the fair skinned fencer who looked sufficiently berated. "Why don't you both just take a deep breathe, calm down and apologize, Lil' Red can apologize for bumping into you, and you can apologize for yelling at her."

"I apologize for my rudeness." The crowned beauty stated with all the grace she could salvage.

"I'm super sorry!" The red-caped girl rambled, her eyes pleading and wide. She turned to Jaune as if to thank him, but he was already on his way toward the auditorium, and the black haired girl was mysteriously gone. "We should probably hurry to the auditorium."

Back with Jaune, a young, innocent sounding voice waltzed it's way into Jaune's ear. _"That was a very kind thing you did back there."_

"Uncle Sam always said; the worst thing that you could possibly fight is a possible friend." Jaune chuckled, a skip in his step before he remembered his last encounter with Neo. "I wonder if she's okay?"

 _"You seem to be having too much fun with all these girls around. I remember when I had to coerce you to even raise your hand in class!"_ The voice seemed to be laughing at Jaune, but he was just glad to be making friends away from home. He wouldn't be alone this time. _

"I'll be brief."

 _"Trust me, when he says that, he's not kidding."_ The voice murmured again, a shimmer of scarlet showing through a white shroud that covered the entire figure except for the overshadowed face. _"Damn, those two haven't changed a bit. I should have asked Glynda how she kept her skin so beautiful when I was a student here. Ooh! Do me a favor, when this is over, go up to Glynda and ask her how long she and Ozpin have been married."_

"I'm trying to listen." Jaune hissed under his breath, only to realize that when he turned to face Summer, he ended up face to face with the ebony clad girl from the pavilion. She gave him an examining glance, her amber eyes boring into his own

 _"Stick your tongue out at her!"_ The spectral ghost demanded. Jaune did, sticking out and curling his tongue while crossing his eyes, drawing a garbled grunt from Blake, somewhere between a questioning 'huh' and a disconcerted 'ugh'. He smiled in reply and tipped his hat toward her.

"You will meet in the ballroom by nine o'clock tonight. Lights out is at ten, make sure to get plenty of sleep for tomorrow's initiation, you will need it." The sexy blonde teacher from slightly behind Ozpin finished, gesturing for the students' dismissal. Jaune caught sight of Lil' Red and Weiss from earlier and decided to interject into their conversation, just to see how the pair was faring.

"Hey you two, how're you doing?" Jaune asked, stepping up beside Weiss, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. She glared at him and gripped his thumb tightly, twisting it to an uncomfortable angle until he began to whimper and wince, following her directions like a trained puppy. "Ow, ow, ow, point taken! No purple!"

"I'm glad to see that even a hick like you can be taught manners." The frosty heiress remarked off-handedly, releasing Jaune with a quick flourish. As she turned away from him, she caught a glance of Ruby's infamous puppy dog gaze and was instantly struck through the heart by a bolt of guilt. "...Though I suppose your insight into the experience earlier was quite-...beneficial."

"What she's trying to say is thank you." The red themed girl piped up, giving him a smile. "I heard your name before, you're Jaune right?"

"Jaune Arc, short, sweet, rolls off the tongue, ladies love it." He received different looks from all three of the girls, or rather responses, seeing as Weiss refused to meet his eye out of second-hand embarrassment. Yang snorted at his antics and Ruby simply looked at Jaune in confusion and asked with innocence.

"Do they really?"

"It's just a catchphrase." Jaune faux pouted and slumped his shoulders. "Anyway, who's this?"

"Yang! Nice ta' meet ya!" Yang reached out and grasped his hand, giving it a firm grip and a shake before she took a subtle whiff and caught a familiar smell. "You smell that?"

"Before you make a joke about me vomiting on the ship! Motion sickness is a far more common problem than most people realize and I ate a mint-!" Yang shushed him by lightly smacking him in the face, otherwise distracted. Jaune watched in confusion and worry, wondering what had overtaken his fellow blonde until he spotted the nearby black haired girl who was silently skulking in the corner of the room. "She has bubblegum."

"Oh no…" Ruby mumbled as his apparition chuckled lightly. Yang began to shiver as the chuckling grew in magnitude. "Yang, she's halfway across the room, you don't have to worry about her bubblegum!"

"...That hasn't stopped it before…" Yang growled, huddling in between the other blonde and her sister. Jaune gave a chuckle before he began to walk toward the girl, kneeling down in front of her and smiling shyly.

"Hey, I'm Jaune."

"Didn't you stick your tongue out at me at the assembly?" Jaune's face turned bright red and he scratched the back of his head. He nodded and opened his mouth to apologize, but she cut him off by sticking her own tongue out at him and crossing her eyes. Jaune laughed and held up his hands in surrender. "Blake."

"It's nice to meet you." He stuck his hand out and she shook it, finally looking down at the book she had in her hand. "Whatcha reading?"

"A book."

"That's an interesting title, I don't think I've ever read that one." Blake smirked at his sarcasm and her eyes turned a tiny bit brighter, emoting far more than words could. She was happy, but at the same time, she was...scared? "So, I don't want to sound weird, but my friend over there was wondering if she could have some of your bubblegum, do you mind?"

Blake, having heard the entire conversation, gave Jaune a sly, knowing look before handing over a strip to him. " _Tell her that you'll give it back to her tonight."_

"I'll give it back to you tonight-" Jaune's brain finally kicked back into gear and he realized what he had just said, and he had no excuse. "Wait, that...umm…" Blake was looking at him with narrowed eyes as she slunk away, shaking her head.

Jaune frowned and growled mutedly at the sky, shaking his fists angrily, miming throttling someone. He looked back down and sighed loudly, taking his hat off his head and running his hand through his hair. "Hello Mr. Arc, I see you've been doing your best to make friends." An eerily calm voice spoke from behind him, causing his skin to tingle.

" _Remember what I said! Ask him! Ask him!"_ The tinkling innocent laugh came from beside him as he slowly turned around, his eyes wide and his pupils dilated like a frightened puppy. _"Grow a pair and ask him!"_

"Ahem, my- my friend wanted to know how- um-..." Jaune cleared his throat and tried his best to continue. "How long have you and Professor Goodwitch been married?" Instead of the glare that Jaune expected or the lecture on how inappropriate his comment was, Ozpin merely grinned, which on anyone else would have looked harmless, but on him, it was almost worse than a glare.

"Seven years."

"Holy Sh-!" Jaune began, only to be cut off when he felt the tip of Ozpin's cane poke into his neck.

" _Holy Shit!"_ The voice yelled, raising in pitch. _"I knew it! I knew it! Qrow_ _so_ _owes me money!"_

"I'm getting really sick of this Summer! Who the hell is Qrow?!" Jaune demanded, finally blowing his top. He turned to face the white hooded teen that stood behind him. Ozpin's eyes widened and narrowed almost simultaneously. His cane lowered slowly as he silently scanned the room with his near omniscient aura. Noticing the headmaster's gaze, his own eyes narrowed. "You know her." He accused, jabbing his finger toward the headmaster.

Ozpin nodded. "Her name was-"

"-is." Jaune corrected offhandedly, his instinct to defend Summer's existence overriding his respect for Ozpin.

"-is...Summer Rose, she was one of my previous students. She was quite a genius, though...mischievous is an understatement." Ozpin finished with a nostalgic sigh. "How you are communicating with Ms. Rose is of more concern to me. I've yet to meet a semblance which allows one to communicate with the dearly departed."

"Well, strange is the new regular." Jaune smirked, tipping his hat.

"Headmaster, I have Port and Peach on ballroom duty and-" Glynda stopped midway through her report and glanced at Jaune who took a deep breathe and threw himself to the wolves before he could let himself tell himself it was a bad idea.

"I have a friend who wants to know what kind of skin products you use." Jaune's eyes didn't open for a while until he heard a sound that vaguely reminded him of wind between buildings in Farwoods, a subtle murmur that almost seemed to say something. A whisper so quiet that only the experienced could hear.

Glynda cleared her throat and frowned, looking down at Jaune in obvious discomfort. "I simply wash my face with rose water and the occasional janx bath."

" _Holy crap! She uses janx?! They say that stuff can cure cancer! Where does she get it?!"_ Summer demanded, pushing her hood off of her dark locks and staring at Glynda with harsh focus.

"I hear you can find janx in certain depleted dust mines." Jaune supplied. "There was this guy over in Byute who sold that stuff in old beer bottles. He called it Ol' Janx Spirit."

"Mudder's Milk." Glynda said simply. "It's an extremely rare Mistralian supplier in the Old Olive mountains. He adds in aromatics as well, but it still works w-"

"Why am I discussing cosmetics with my principal?!" Jaune questioned incredulously. "Never mind. I'm going to get food, and then sleep."

"Mr. Arc, I'm terribly sorry about your brother. Solomon is a good man, a wise man, and I hope that you may follow in his footsteps, Mr. Torchwick."

"Thank you-"

"It is supremely unfortunate, though, that I can't seem to activate any of my cameras around the industrial district, near a certain bar...well, it is of no concern to you, Jaune." Ozpin mentioned with a mischievous smile, causing Glynda to glower.

"That's really too bad, and I just got my bike back, it'd be absolutely terrible if I were to have an accident around there." Jaune replied, an equally mischievous smile adorning his face. Glynda's glower turned into a groan.

"Mr. Arc! Go to the cafeteria with the rest of your classmates!" She reprimanded, her voice stern.

"Yes Mrs. Goodwit- wait! Does that mean your last name is Goodwitch?" He asked Ozpin, whose smile widened.

"What are you implying?" Glynda's voice was a dangerous growl, but suddenly, another of those winds whispered past and she sighed. " **Go. Now.** "

"That could have ended better." Jaune muttered to himself. He and Summer trekked through the grounds of Beacon with ease.

" _A right up here."_ Summer supplied, flitting about haphazardly, following a butterfly as it took to the air. _"Then a left at the second turn, head straight and you're home free."_

"Are you lost?" A thickly accented voice asked, drawing Jaune's attention to a slight Faunus girl. He shook his head and Velvet's eyebrows rose. "Almost all freshman are lost when they're alone."

"But I'm not alone. You're here." Jaune said bluntly. He looked Velvet up and down and his curiosity was piqued. "Your accent sounds familiar. Where are you from?"

"I only just saw you and noticed you were alone, and I'm from Umber Island, down southeast of here." She replied adeptly, her mind easily flitting between the two conversations.

"But if you were there, then I wasn't alone. No one is ever _seen_ alone." Jaune replied in an even, sagely voice. "I have family around there. Solomon told me about them: the Scarletina's."

The Faunus girl gave a surprised cough and shot Jaune a disbelieving look. "My name's Velvet..."

"Jaune." He supplied briskly, continuing on his way toward the cafeteria.

"...Velvet Scarletina." This time Jaune was the one caught off guard, but it barely registered outwardly, only a brief falter in his step.

"That-...that is definitely not a coincidence." Jaune remarked as lightly as he could, stopping to turn to Velvet. "You see, this is the part where I'd give you a hug, and we'd have a moving family reunion where we both reveal our deepest secrets, but I have a feeling that we don't know each other well enough for that yet."

"...yeah…"

"Ummm…"

"So, how's life?" Velvet finally broke the tension just as they reached their destination. The two entered the dining hall, only to be stopped by the sudden din of new students and second years discussing between each other, loudly yelling over tables and searching for friends. "On second thought, maybe you should call me later to catch up. You can find me in the student directory and good luck tomorrow."

"Thanks." Jaune said hesitantly, giving her a quick, awkward hug. Velvet simply nodded and left to find her team. "That was supremely awkward."

"That felt awkward from across the room!" Yang joked, throwing her arm across Jaune's shoulder and guiding him back towards her, Ruby and Weiss's table. "So, you already hitting on strangers? And I thought we had a connection."

"Imagine...that you've suddenly found out that you have a cousin that you've never met before, and she turns out to be going to the same school as you and she happens to not know that you exist." Jaune said distractedly, being easily guided by Yang like a young fledgling. Yang smiled to herself and nodded her head in appreciation.

"That sounds like it'd be fun!"

"Now imagine you're me. Rinse and repeat." Yang cringed and patted Jaune on the shoulder.

"It's okay, I'm sure you'll be fine." Yang tried to reassure him. It didn't work. As the blonde pair reached the table, Jaune skipped the sitting down part and just slammed his head onto the table and slid to the floor in shame. "No need to beat yourself up about it. She's not even in the same year as you, you'll probably rarely interact, and when you do, you can just pretend to be mute!"

"Yang, your boy skills could use some work." Ruby patted Yang on the shoulder and smiled condescendingly. Yang, Weiss and Jaune all gave her looks of disbelief and she smiled brightly. "Anyway~ Jaune, don't worry! By tonight, you'll have made so many more friends that you'll be past your thing with her."

"As tactless as that statement was," Weiss began. "it's true, you shouldn't dwell. You seem...nice…? You'll be fine." Yang smirked at Weiss's discomfort while Ruby winced at her cold tone and Jaune scanned Weiss's face closely.

"I'm pretty sure that was a compliment..." The four simply paused and allowed silence to reign for the rest of the meal. "If it was, thank you, if not, then...I don't really care, sorry."

" _She is adorable when she's trying to be nice. Especially 'cus she sucks at it."_ Summer seemed strangely worked up over it, but Jaune refused to raise to her jab at Jaune's new friend-...ish person. He pulled out a tiny notepad from his back pocket and began to write so that Summer could see.

 _I don't think she likes me anyway. I'll just bug her some ;P._ Summer groaned loudly and let her shoulders droop in irritation. Finally, dinner was over and it was time for the annual night of torture.

First years had the lovely experience of sharing a ballroom with the entire rest of the class for a night of testosterone filled, mind-numbing, nerve wracking fun. If only there were waterboarding and rusted torture implements, the whole thing would be complete.

"I'd rather sleep outside." Jaune said as soon as he saw the state of the room. Overtly masculine guys flexing obnoxiously on the boundary line of the male and female sides of the room. "Revoking previous statement; I'd rather hang myself."

"Shut up and go change. You're just jealous cuz you're scrawny." Yang teased, tossing her bag of toiletries over her shoulder and sauntering toward the women's changing room. Jaune sighed but agreed half-heartedly. As he changed into his onesie, he realized that he was starting to get too tall for it. He'd have to roll up to sleeves and the legs to not look like a dork.

"You look like such a dork." Those words greeted him with the tender loving kindness of a .10 gauge shotgun between his shoulderblades. He took a deep breath and sighed in acceptance. His onesie was baggy and yet too short at the same time. He was at that phase where you've reached your peak height, but during the process, all of your bulk pretty much melted off, meaning that the only clothes that fit him were specially altered. That was fine in Farwood. Everyone knew everyone and no one minded lending cloth to the sheriff's kid. "I refuse to be seen with someone dressed like that."

"Fine! I'll find someone who appreciates me." Jaune joked, turning to pout away from Yang, only two spot his first official unofficial friend. He smiled and traipsed over to the pair happily. Finally he stopped just short of the rambling ginger and smiled, waving silently to the equally silent man across from him. He nodded his head, but the ginger continued animatedly. "You're Ren, right?"

Instantly, the chatterbox stopped and suddenly he was staring down the most curious turquoise eyes he had ever seen. She didn't seem to have moved at all, she was just there and then gone. He looked to Ren for a moment and he responded with an entirely uninterested gaze. The eyes didn't blink, they didn't flit, they didn't narrow or widen, they just stared.

And stared…

Finally, Jaune couldn't take it anymore, he blinked.

"HA!" The girl pulled another dramatic disappearing act. She leaned back and pointed victoriously at Jaune. "You blinked! I win!"

"I suppose soo~…" I looked over her shoulder to lock eyes with Ren who seemed entirely unfazed by the fact that his partner was practically buzzing with manic energy. Nora leaned back and plopped right onto her sleeping bag without a care in the world and then waded through the fabric until she popped up beside the raven haired boy and gestured towards him dramatically.

"This is Ren! He's my partner! But not like together partners, not that he's not-" Ren cut her off with a simple hand gesture.

"I think he gets it." He nodded in greeting and hesitantly stuck his hand out. "Ren."

"Jaune. It's a pleasure to meet you Ren, and you too-...what's your name?" Jaune queried, his eyebrow quirking in interest.

"I'm Nora!" She responded happily, falling back flat on her sleeping bag before immediately, she was asleep.

"How does she do that…?"

"She is an anomaly of twelfth-dimensional physics. Commonly referred to as Noraspace. While moving in Noraspace, she does not move through time like we do, however, she moves through Noratime. Noraspace-Noratime physics are still relatively unexplored due to their rare nature, however, other, similar, studies include hammerspace-hammertime continuum theoretical physics." Ren explained calmly. "I'm currently using Noraspace as a weapon transportation and retrieval system in my sleeves."

"You could just say you don't know."

"I don't know." Ren shrugged, turning away from Jaune for a moment to take off his green overcoat. "It hurts less to pretend like it makes sense."

"I'm going to just sit right here, if you don't mind, I was looking for a place to sleep and I saw you. Do you mind?" The guy hesitated and looked down at Nora with trepidation.

"Sure…" He sounded like he wanted anything but someone else there. He was sitting very near Nora, almost like he was guarding her.

"Actually…" Jaune amended, noticing Ren's hand gripping tight onto his blanket and his unspoken discomfort. "I think I'll leave you two alone. You seem really tired, and I snore. Loudly."

Ren almost let out a relieved sigh, but instead, he just nodded in acceptance, his heartbeat slowing considerably. There was a reason Ren spoke in small doses over long time periods, and now was not the night to find out what it was.

Looking around, Jaune saw the perfect opportunity to regain some respect from his brunette friend. As he slid beside Blake, prodding her with his right hand, holding out an innocuous piece of bubblegum, causing Blake to smirk and roll her eyes, flicking at Jaune's hat as it began to slip from off his head, almost falling off. "I guess you did return it."

"Not the hat!" Jaune quickly gripped his hat, pulling it tight to his head, pouting slightly as he leaned away from Blake and her cheshire grin. Blake reached out again, pretending to go for his hat, only to quickly quail when a pair of extremely energetic girls approached. "Hey! It's madame bubblegum!"

Yang grimaced at the nickname and stuck her tongue out, while Ruby waved happily to Blake. Weiss apparently was still in the bathroom getting clean from encountering and intermingling with 'plebeians'. Blake smiled softly, recognizing Ruby from the courtyard. "So, you're still off flirting with other girls, huh? I mean, your cousin is one thing, this is entirely different. You can't be related to everyone here."

" _Is that a challenge?_ " Summer questioned, grinning from her place on the other side of Blake, who decided now, of all times, she wanted to be mischievous.

"Jaune?" Blake met his gaze and handed him a nondescript foil square. "Have some bubblegum."

Yang gave a quick ' _eep_ ' and hopped behind Ruby, who seemed hesitant to say anything throughout the whole conversation. "I'm sorry about Yang, usually she's not this weird, but she has bad history with bubblegum."

"Guys, we should probably get to sleep, I think we're disturbing the rest of the students." Weiss quietly pranced around the prone bodies across the floor, her finger at her lips as she silently shushed the group.

"That's my cue. I'll see you guys tomorrow at initiation." Jaune's face lost its goofiness for a moment as he smiled tenderly at the surrounding girls. "May God's hand be upon you and your dreams."

"G'night…" Yang remarked quietly, staring confusedly at Jaune's retreating form. "He seemed different just then, right?"

"Yeah, almost like he was...I don't know...apologizing?"


	2. Chapter 2

" _Hey pops! It's Jaune! I know I could just type you this message, but I like talking my problems out, so, anyway, the trip to Beacon closely resembled Hell, but it was worth it. Vale was spectacular! They have actual multiple story buildings! Farwoods is definitely the sticks compared to this place. I'm in a ballroom that's bigger than our entire house. Of course, there's also more White Fang. I've been attacked twice since I got to Vale, it's crazy."_ Jaune paused to look around and listened for anyone breathing unevenly or any quiet movement. He heard and saw nothing, but just to be safe, he brought his voice down to a whisper.

 _"I made some friends today...I think. I mean, Summer says they're my friends, but I'm still new at this whole friend thing, so I wouldn't know. Anyway! Everyone I met seemed really nice- well, almost everyone...but I think I just caught her at a bad time. To be fair, she had just been blown up. She was really pretty, so far everyone I've met has been attractive in one way or another. Anyway, she said her name was Weiss, it's a nice name, but I made a bad impression. I want to be her friend, but I don't think she likes me. Tomorrow I'll try to apologize, but for now, Summer says to wait. Anyway! I met three other girls here- and before you start teasing me, Summer already mentioned that I'm becoming a flirt- but I'm not! I swear...apparently that's just how I talk, which I blame you for, by the way."_ He looked around again, this time, less out of paranoia and more out of exhausted curiosity.

 _"It's really late and I don't want to wake anybody up, but I'm super excited! I met this really nice girl and her sister, they're both really nice, and the younger one looks just like Summer, it's crazy! The older one looks just like mom though...except for the eyes. She's hilarious! She tells these horrible puns that make me want to roll on the floor, just like Summer. Say hi to mom for me and tell her again that I'll always be her son, no matter what, and tell her...oh, forget it. She knows that I love her. Goodnight Solomon._ " Jaune put away the voice recorder and smiled tiredly, murmuring quietly to Summer. "Good night."

Around the ballroom, a collection of four girls quietly shifted from their assorted positions on the floor and turned to face something else, anything else. Each mulled their thoughts carefully that night, some trying to grasp it's meaning, some avoiding the topic out of fear or guilt. They hadn't meant to overhear what they had, but somehow they couldn't stop.

* * *

"-It's morning! It's morning! It's morning!-"

"-Maybe we could bribe the headmaster! No, that wouldn't work, he's got the school.-"

"-I drink milk!-"

Bits and pieces of conversation jumbled and hopped across Jaune's consciousness as he ambled through a relatively normal routine of trying to convince himself that he's still asleep, despite all evidence otherwise, but as he reached the showers, he realized something devastating. "Where's my locker?!"

"636?! There's no way that could be it! I would have remembered having to count that high!" As Jaune passed by Ruby and Yang he waved distractedly, still looking down at the paper in his hands. "All I want is a pot of coffee and some freaking bacon!"

A sight greeted Jaune that he had hoped he could avoid until he had had his coffee, but what came next needed to be done. With extreme hesitance and trepidation, Jaune approached the white haired heiress and tapped her on the shoulder, pulling her away from her conversation with a tall, redheaded girl.

She turned around and looked like she was going to go on a tirade of Biblical proportions when she saw Jaune.

I want to be her friend, but I don't think she likes me. Tomorrow I'll try to apologize

The words from the night before flashed through her mind as she slowly shut her lips out of guilt and swallowed thickly. "Hello Jaune, I was hoping that we could talk." She turned around and politely addressed the girl. "I'm terribly sorry about this. Please, don't go away, but I need to talk to- my friend here."

Jaune's heart soared and began to pound. "Umm, if you're in the middle of a conversation- um, I can- err, come back later."

"No!" Weiss caught herself in her desperate tone quickly. "Ahem, no, that's quite alright, hopefully this won't take long. I just wanted to apologize for my rudeness yesterday, I was being immature and it was uncalled for. Please forgive me?"

Jaune's eyes widened and he gulped, nodding mutely before smiling shyly. "Would you believe that I was about to say the same thing?"

"Umm..." Pyrrha began, feeling left out of a very touching reconciliation between friends and made to leave, but Weiss quickly stopped her by introducing her to Jaune.

"Ah! Jaune, you know Pyrrha Nikos!" Weiss began proudly.

"Hello!" Pyrrha interjected happily.

"I do?" Pyrrha's grin didn't falter, in fact, it seemed to brighten.

"Graduated top of her class at Sanctum?" Weiss reminded him. He winced and smiled apologetically. She sighed, but didn't lose her temper, she knew Jaune was from the sticks, but she didn't know he was from that far out. "She won the Mistral tournament four years in a row...?" She trailed off, and Jaune's eyes widened.

"I have a friend from Mistral!" He erupted happily. "And, I mean, I've heard of Sanctum, but I don't really keep track of stuff like that. My father graduated from there. Second in his class..."

"You really don't get out much, do you?" Weiss asked with a hint of pity in her voice, laced with surprise. Jaune lowered his head and shook it.

"She's on the front of every Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes cereal box!" Weiss flung her arms down and frowned petulantly for a moment before Jaune flinched and then gave an expression of realization.

"Don't they do that with lost children?" Jaune asked, his face contorted in confusion..

"That's milk cartons." Pyrrha corrected, her smile widening as she threw in her two cents.

"Oh! So, you can have Pyrrha Nikos and 'Little Tommy who ran away from home' as part of a balanced breakfast." Jaune joked, an overtly sarcastic smile flashing across his features. Pyrrha gave a light giggle as Weiss simply shook her head and jokingly forced him out of the conversation by turning to face Pyrrha.

"So, I was hoping that perhaps, we could form a team together?" Weiss asked, clasping her hands politely in front of herself. Jaune meanwhile was mocking her by making exaggerated talking movements and snobbish faces. "I'm sure that I would be able to learn much with a partner like you."

"Why that sounds grand." Pyrrha smile suddenly turned plasticine and her tone measured.

"Well, good luck you guys, I need some freaking coffee." As he finished his comment and began his glorious trek in search of coffee, Weiss' conversation suddenly dimmed out and he saw her...

...Draped in various shades of mocha and chocolate browns, capped with a fancy little...thingamajig, and piping hot. She was perfect, and even from here he could smell the cream and sugar. Mmm...coffee.

"I will sell you my soul for your coffee!" Jaune growled at the girl carrying his sweetheart. She was wearing a beret and tinted brown shades, but other than that, she appeared to be in only her pj's and a pair of three inch, unlaced, combat heels. She looked at him balefully before smiling.

"I'm afraid we don't accept that as payment." She began drolly. "We do, however, accept the blood of virgins, your firstborn child and the still-beating hearts of my enemies." She hadn't even finished and already, Jaune drew his sword. "If you think you can threaten me, you're wrong...and dumb."

"No, how much blood do you need?" He asked, holding his sword to his palm. The girl slid her glasses down her nose with curiosity and shook her head, taking a long sip of her blonde roast before writing something on the mug and handing it over. "I will worship you as a goddess for all of my days."

"You better, Cherry boy, the only reason I'm doing this is so you'll owe me a favor, and because you know Velvet." She turned the mug so what she had written faced him and pushed her glasses back up her nose before ambling away.

He took the mug and chugged the entire contents, not even realizing the heat until it was down his throat and his entire body suddenly became warm. "Woah there, ladykiller! Even I don't drink coffee that fast!"

Jaune suddenly smiled dreamily and turned whimsically to Yang who looked at him in concern. "I think I'm in love."

"Well, she's hot, but you just met her. And we already have a connection, don't we?" Yang demanded. Jaune shot her a glare before clutching the mug to his chest.

"You shall not touch my coffee!"

"Yep! We've lost him." Ruby mourned, walking away from her second friend. "Well, cliffs 'ahoy."

Jaune made to follow them, but as he leaned to put the coffee mug up, he saw what the girl had written on the side. _'Both the boy and the cup are property of Coco Adel, if found, return to room 221, by punishment of death! XOXO'_

* * *

Now, cliffs are great. They're fantastic. They make the best place to stand and stare out at approximately fifty students that you've recently sent hurtling through the air. Ozpin pondered these things as he sipped his coffee and shared the view with his closest friend.

"Every year, I look at the new students; with their eyes full of hope and bright and their ruddy faces, and I wonder: will this year finally bring along our future replacements? Will all of our students survive their training? Did I ever look that stupid?" Glynda questioned deeply, causing Ozpin to frown in thought before giving a light chuckle.

"All humor aside. Every year, I see such potential. I see our future replacements every year, hunters with the skill and strength to one day, possibly, bring peace." Another sip of his coffee marked a considerably dark turn in his voice. "However, few survive the true crucibles."

"Agreed."

* * *

Jaune Arc didn't like cars, he didn't like buses, he didn't like boats, he didn't like planes, in fact, the only transportation he really liked was his old hog: Jerusalem.

This meant that hurtling miles above the earth did nothing for his digestion, except enforce the idea that skipping breakfast wasn't such a bad idea.

Jaune was, however, not entirely sure on his position on transportation by coat. Jaune was wearing quite an impressive coat himself. It was laced with dust and acted almost like a parachute, gathering wind inside of it, near Jaune's body and allowing him to either glide gracefully through the air, or hop insanely large distances.

Of course, that didn't make his motion sickness any less prevalent. A green faced Jaune floated to the tree line with barely contained nausea. He touched down and plopped gracelessly on a branch, leaning over the edge and heaving raspy gulps. "Glynda's sadistic crap is gonna kill me!"

 _"Ha! I've got you calling her Glynda too!"_ Summer giggled and lounged across Jaune's shoulders, her hood sliding back a bit to reveal more of her childish grin. He bit back a scathing remark and instead took a deep breath to diminish the nausea.

"So, come here often stranger?" A voice from below asked, a distinctly Mistrali accent caused Jaune's ears to perk up.

"Yep, thought I might just settle down in this here tree. Might even take me a nap." Jaune reached for his hat to tip it over his eyes, but his hand stopped halfway to his forehead. He patted all over his head and began to panic, his hands shaking and his smile dripping off his face into a snarl. "...my hat."

"Where is it?" Pyrrha asked, looking around the forest floor.

"I don't know." He paused dramatically. "But I will find it."

* * *

"Isn't this Jaune's hat?"

"What'd you say?" Blake asked, sheathing her sword, and rolling her neck. "Oh, it's his hat."

"I'll return it when we see him again." Yang affirmed, plopping the Stetson onto her luscious mane. "Maybe."

"Now isn't the time." Blake said calmly, her eyes scanning the forest quickly. "We need to head North, we can talk to him when we're done."

The trek through the forest was relatively quiet, the silence interrupted only by distant gunfire.

Until a single, drawn out, guttural roar echoed through the forest, causing minor Grimm to cower in fear and return to their dens. The yellow and black duo shared a look and both shivered.

"I hate to fight whatever just made that noise."

* * *

"Do you feel better now?" Pyrrha asked from behind Jaune, her ears still covered as her partner continued to pant and huff. "Or would you like to yell again?"

"Give me a second." His voice was coarse and gruff. He yelled again, this time slightly quieter, and when he was done, he sighed, looking around at the forest floor. He whispered hoarsely. "I'm done."

"I'm sorry about your hat-"

"Don't. Just, don't worry." Pyrrha stood and patted him on the shoulder, slightly jostling his sword. They both scanned the nearby forest and decided at the same moment which direction they were heading. Neither party seemed particularly pleased by the silence, especially Summer.

 _"Talk to her! She's your partner now, you need to open up! You know the importance of communication! You read the book!"_ Jaune groaned and slowed down to walk beside Pyrrha. She turned toward him and smiled, but she seemed distracted.

"I'm sorry I yelled." Jaune mumbled.

Pyrrha smiled mournfully but nodded. "It's fine Jaune, though your temper was quite unexpected. I expected you to be more laid back."

"I am extremely laid back! I am the most laid back person you'll ever meet! I'm so freaking laid back that I could sleep through the apocalypse!" Jaune's voice escalated through the whole conversation until he was red in the face, panting hard and obviously not laid back.

"Jaune, Jaune, you're alright. Don't worry. You're not exactly sounding laid back! You're probably scaring her." Summer's feet never touched the ground, but she stood in front of Jaune with a firm resolution.

"I'm alright." Jaune said hesitantly, his voice calming considerably. "I'm okay. I'm sorry I yelled. You were just trying to help, but I'm just- really attached to that hat."

"I understand. If I were to lose Akuo or Milo, I'd probably be just as worried as you." Pyrrha assured him, not realizing how wrong she was.

"That's not completely it. That hat is sorta like an engagement ring..." Jaune finally mumbled. Pyrrha's ears perked up and she turned towards him with rapt attention. "I got it from my father, who got it from his mother who got it from his father. Every generation, the man gives the hat to his fiancé and they end up getting married. My father didn't think he'd ever see me again after I left so he sent it with me in case I find the one. Someone else wearing the hat is like them stealing my virginity."

 _"You're not going to have to marry her! It's not that big of a deal, your dad gave it to you because it's a hand-me-down, not an engagement ring_!" Summer articulated, throwing her hands up into the air.

Pyrrha stood agog, her blush blazing a trail across her face as she tried to not make a noise. He stood up and grabbed his sword, flipping his shield onto his arm. Pyrrha followed the action, sensing the same presence he had. Danger was nearby.

A blur of black and white burst into the clearing, squealing all the way. With a hollow thunk as it hit a solid oak tree, the boarbatusk stopped its spinning and turned to face the pair slowly.

"Crazy idea time." Jaune said hesitantly. "Run!"

Pyrrha seemed to think that this was a good idea considering the pig was about the size of a sixteen wheeler with a bad attitude, and soon followed him, springing through the forest as an extremely angry swine played pinball with sturdy oaks and large boulders.

A light at the end of the tunnel of green showed itself as a small cave in a rock face, it was the shelter that they so needed. "Cave?"

"It can't be much worse than what we've got now."

* * *

"I was wrong! It was worse! Oh God, it was much worse!" Jaune yelled, holding tightly onto the tail of a Deathstalker that swung wildly as Jaune begged for mercy from any deity that might have recently turned their phones on. "Pyrrha! I'm sorry I yelled! Tell my parents I loved them and delete my internet history!"

As the last word left his throat, so did Jaune's breathe while he was flung from his position on the tail far into the distance.

Pyrrha Nikos did something that she rarely ever did: "Eep." She squeaked, smiled timidly while scratching the back of her head, and then she ran for her life, trying her best to remain pointed north, and all was going fine until she heard a loud, high pitched squeal and felt the rumble of distant stomping.

Jaune flew through the air with a similar grace as the last time, but this time, he simply snarled an angsty frown. "I don't think it's flying I dislike, it's the bullheads and the launch pads that suck. It's not motion sickness, it's airsickness. Huh."

His life changing discovery was interrupted by the oncoming canopy of trees as he flared up his duster and allowed the winds to guide him toward the loud squealing and the crashing of trees being battered by a pair of inordinately large Grimm.

 _"Boarbatusks usually don't get that big._ " Summer supplied distractedly. Jaune was seconds away from shooting her a scathing remark, but he was already dealing with the fact that the sizable branch he was planning on landing on was currently falling to the ground as a boarbatusk rampaged past him, following Pyrrha and followed shortly after by a Deathstalker with a bad attitude.

"Bad idea time...~" Jaune sing-songed. He turned to face the sky as he drew his sword and the winds gathered inside his coat, forcing him and his blade toward the ground at breakneck speeds, his body whirling in a tornado of steel as he sliced straight through the Deathstalker's tail- Wait. No. Never mind. He fell toward the ground but was batted aside by a falling Ruby.

"You're kidding me." Jaune groaned, nonplussed by the entire situation. Ruby had apparently been dropped by a giant Nevermore that was currently flying overhead. "I don't know if I should even be angry or impressed at this huge Deus ex Machina bull-"

Jaune had once again landed, though with admittedly less panache than previously, and was currently trying to blink away stars as he clutched the stone pillar he was attached to. He cried out to the heavens and pled. "Why?!"

"Jaune?" Ruby asked from below, looking up at him, almost mystified. Jaune waved and smiled pitifully. "What are you doing up there?"

"Just...hangin' out." He replied loosely, until he heard the squealing again and saw Pyrrha running towards him in a headlong sprint. "Pyrrha!"

She was past him by the time he had hit the ground, drawing his sword and spinning it skillfully in his hand, spinning just out of the way, dragging it along the side of the boar's hide, his blade's edge so sharp that as the boar flew past, hunks of hair flew off its side and small droplets of blood flew into the air. The boar continued past him and as the Deathstalker neared him, he ducked into a low defensive stance, his sword pointed slightly behind him as he spread his legs a little bit farther. As the scorpion Grimm passed, Jaune rolled slightly forward and to the right, slashing at the inside of the Grimm's legs, nicking three of them in turn before leaping back into the defensive.

As he turned to face the two beasts, he realized that he had made a mistake, they were still moving, and Pyrrha needed backup. Catching up wasn't an option. Squeals and Scuttles were moving too fast for Jaune to catch up and Pyrrha was running out of places to go.

"Ruby! Shoot the tail!" Jaune slid to a stop beside Ruby who was already unfurling her weapon. She planted the scythe and chambered a round.

"Wait! How did you know Crescent Rose is also a gun?" Ruby inquired, causing Jaune to groan in annoyance.

"Ruby, we're training to be hunters, and I know a few hunters. My brother is a huntsman, he has a cane, it's also a gun. My father has a book- _A Book!_ It's also a gun. My best friend has an umbrella. It's also a sword, so I figure your gigantic scythe thing is either also a gun or a sword, and a sword seems unlikely, so shoot the freaking scorpion!"

"Gotcha, ugly!" Jaune hoped she was talking about Scuttles and not him. Ruby fired off a round, ripping through the Deathstalker's tail and ricocheting it off of one of the spikes on the Boarbatusk's back. The boar kept charging, but already, Scuttles had his return planned. "Go help your partner!"

Jaune took off at a sprint, gaining on the boarbatusk as it encountered more stone pillars, hindering its progress. He bore down on the Deathstalker, and just as it swiped its claw at him, he jumped over it, tiptoeing across the back of it before he jumped off near the tail, giving it another snip with his sword as he passed.

The closer he got toward his partner, the more trouble he realized he was in. Pyrrha was huddled behind a piece of stone rubble, taking potshots on the boar, aiming for the eyes and the nostrils, but it was having no effect, and the boar was readying for another spinning charge. Jaune opened his mouth to cry out for his partner, but it shut just as quickly when a bright pink cloud plumed right in the boar's face, stuttering it and blinding it momentarily as another blur, this one green, sprinted in underneath the boar, slashing away at its delicate underside as he baseball slid out from behind it. The beast fell to its belly before grunting in rage, curling up without it's hooves as it charged again towards the happy ginger girl who simply launched herself above the beast and let it pass her harmlessly.

Jaune charged straight past where Pyrrha lay, picking her up and slinging her over my shoulder, striding away from the pair of Grimm with Nora and Ren on his tail.

 _"Yang's coming out of the left tree line, take a few steps to your right._ " Without missing a beat, Jaune heeded Summer's warning and took three steps to the right and barely skimmed Yang's shoulder as she and Blake sprinted into the clearing.

"That's My Hat!" He growled, turning around, standing beside Yang and allowing Pyrrha to hop off of his shoulder. He swiped at the hat, but Yang barely dodged and he didn't have time to lunge for it again. Scuttles was mere feet away and would soon be-

-and suddenly the world turned sideways as he was struck in the back by a falling Weiss.

As he collapsed on the ground, barely avoiding the scuttling body of-...Scuttles...he pulled Weiss' body flush with his own and winced as she almost crushed his balls with her knee. "I'm not trying to feel you up, I swear."

As the bug crossed over them, chasing the still firing hunters, Jaune and Weiss stared down the infuriatingly large boar: Squeals.

"We need something big." Jaune began hurriedly, already forming a plan of action. "We need something that can knock over the boar hopefully a long ranged projectile-"

"-Like a Nevermore?" Weiss asked distractedly. Jaune shrugged.

"Definitely an intriguing idea but-" He saw what Weiss was distracted by. "Oh...Yup, that'll work."

"We should run..." Weiss barely managed to murmur. Jaune nodded in admission, his face failing to betray the fear he was in.

"...or we could-...Yeah, we should run!" Immediately, the two took off in a sprint, hurtling headlong past collapsed ruins and stone columns, but it didn't matter, Squeals was gaining on them. With a speed disproportionate to its size, the giant pig bore down on them like a- see what I did there?- freight train with ADD. "Count of three, break hard starboard- err, right. And draw us perpendicular to- crap! Three!"

The two broke right just as Squeals and Scuttles met in the middle of the field, colliding with a resounding crash, and then an even more resounding squelch, as Squeals' weight all fell on top of Scuttles' carapace, cracking it under the sheer weight.

"Huh." Yang looked on from the side, watching as Weiss and Jaune sprinted from the scene of the massacre. "That was a thing."

"That's my hat!" Jaune yelled, reaching out and snatching the Stetson off of Yang's head and planting it firmly on his own.

 _"Your kids are gonna be so blonde._ " Summer whispered, staring intently at Yang. " _Pyrrha is totally gonna explode."_

Pyrrha's lips tugged into a frown and she took a deep breath, turning to face the giant pig as it tried to turn the eight of them to hunter hummus. Jaune noticed her frown and sighed, he wasn't blind, Uncle Sam made sure that he knew how to understand people, and he knew what he had to do, but it had to wait, there was a thirty ton pig bearing down on them and Jaune had a bad idea.

"Everybody scatter! Head to the cliffs." Jaune ordered, jumping over their cover and clanging his sword and shield together, screaming insults at the boar, trying to draw its attention. "Oi! Bacon Bits! Come and get some, half-rack! I ate your mother for breakfast!"

That last one seemed to catch the boar's attention as it reared around and began to charge after Jaune who turned and sprinted for the cliff, extolling the virtues of bacon and breakfast sausage.

As Jaune neared the cliff, Blake seemed to catch on immediately to what his plan was and began to run alongside him, preparing her kusarigama. Nora followed up behind the boar as it trotted behind Jaune and prepared her hammer, the entire plan coming together. Weiss prepared some glyphs in front of Jaune as he straightened out his path in order to goad the boarbatusk into a roll.

The pig took the bait and began to curl up into a spinning mass of bone spikes and black skin. Jaune hit the first glyph and was launched forward, closer and closer to the cliff by the moment and the Grimm set off at a blistering roll.

It was too late for the pig to stop by the time Blake launched her kusarigama. Jaune caught the clothe right near the hilt of the blade and was suddenly jolted out of the boar's path, allowing the beast to roll unimpeded to its death, even as Nora launched herself forward and slammed her hammer into its rear.

"Fore!" She hollered, holding the golf pose for effect. "Hole in one!"

" _Keep this up and you might even get a birdie!_ " Summer joked, only to receive an odd stare from Jaune and she pouted. " _It's funny if you know about golf…"_

"Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian Shore..." Blake murmured, her eyes locked on the bird as it came around for another dive. "Nevermore. _(The Raven)_ "

"Nora, salvo that turkey out of the air." Jaune ordered, already marching toward the other battle. As soon as Jaune was done speaking, sounds of mellifluous laughter and even more melodious explosions reverberated around the clearing and plumes of pink smoke erupted around the head of the bird as it suddenly reared up and away from the four that it was currently assaulting. "Oooh...another bad idea…~"

"Well, the last one worked pretty well, so, what's this one?" Weiss asked, fiddling with her dust chambers in the short moment of peace.

"Have you ever given a frog a _Mentos_?" He asked as he took off into a run. Weiss faltered for a moment, looking taken aback by the question.

"No, that sounds disgusting." She soon followed, charging behind Jaune, but as she thought about it, she gradually got more and more curious to see how it applied. "So what does it do?"

"They explode!" Jaune barked out a laugh and turned to Nora. "I don't have any _Mentos,_ so I need a grenade."

"Oooooh! One boom-ball comin' right up!" She reached into her cleavage and pulled out another of her heart grenades.

" _Holy crap! Ren wasn't kidding when he was talking about Noraspace…"_ Summer remarked, looking agog as Nora's boob-boom-ball flew through the air toward Jaune, who caught it gingerly, slightly concerned that this had just been in the girl's boobs. _"This is as close to third base as you're gonna get with this girl._

"Please shut up. I'm trying to be awesome." Jaune muttered, grabbing Weiss, throwing her over his shoulder and breaking into a sprint toward the Nevermore. Weiss gave an indignant squeak, but stopped suddenly and handed her the grenade. "I have a plan, do you trust me?"

"Not explicitly, but you seem competent." She professed indignantly, rolling gracefully off his shoulder and falling into step with him.

" _So does she?"_

"Do you?" Jaune echoed uncertainly, not feeling as encouraged as he thought he'd be.

"Yes!" Jaune nodded and leaned into Weiss.

"Here's the plan..." He began to whisper into Weiss' ear hurriedly, followed by a series of nods. As Weiss elegantly sprinted forward, Jaune came to a sudden halt and grabbed Nora's arm, pulling her closer to himself. "I'm going to need you to do something for me."

"Anything boss." Nora saluted Jaune as he stopped and looked around in shame.

"Firstly, don't call me boss, and second…" He paused pointedly, looking down with a thoughtful frown on his face. "How much can you bench press…?"

Nora's eyes narrowed quizzically as Jaune laid out the plan.

"Are you ready?"

"Born ready, boss!"

"I told you- I-." Jaune sighed and shook his head. "Fine...spread the plan...and be quick."

* * *

"I am _SO_ glad that worked." Yang muttered, plucking leaves from her- everywhere. "I will never look at a _Mentos_ the same way again."

"I'm never going to get Grimm blood out of my hair." Weiss groaned, undoing her ponytail and shaking her head a few times.

"I think I swallowed a feather." Ruby coughed. Meanwhile, Blake simply suffered in silence. She sat tensely unable to stop the ringing in her feline ears, much less remove whatever putrid gelatinous ooze had seeped into her bow. She resigned herself to simply gritting her teeth and screaming: _Ew ew ew ew ew!_ In her mind.

Ren lifted his head momentarily from the floor of the locker room and simply sighed tiredly, unable to summon up any energy for comment. Pyrrha simply grimaced in embarrassment, having been one of the only two people to leave the field entirely unblemished, due to being (unintentionally) behind Jaune during the explosion. As Yang winced and drew a particularly sharp piece of wood out of her bicep, Pyrrha muttered quietly. "I'm sorry…"

Nora bounced about happily, practically sparkling clean. To this day, no one knows how.

Jaune sat happily on a bench, cleaning his sword with an oil rag and whistling a jaunty tune. His hat stood on top of his head, untouched by muck. And alas, it was the only part of him so. His hair was splattered across his face along with clumps of mud and grass stains and tears along his shirt, not to mention the malodorous goo that was stuck to practically every surface of his body. As he finally flicked the last of the gunk off of his blade, he smiled brightly and stood, sheathing his sword and placing it beside his shield in his locker. Weiss eyed him disbelievingly. "How are you so happy?! You're covered in...Grimm bits!"

"My hat is clean, my sword is sharp, and I just shoved a grenade down a Nevermore's gullet! How are you not excited?!" He paused as Nora cleared her throat to catch his attention and raised an eyebrow. "Fine: _we_ shoved a grenade down a Nevermore's gullet. But still, that's one of the coolest things I've ever done with a grenade!"

Finally, Nora burst. "Let's do it again!"

Six people simultaneously yelled "No."

"Ahem. Would you eight come with me? The team announcement will start shortly." Goodwitch paused as she caught a glance of Jaune's state and her smile turned malicious. "And please hurry Mr. Arc, I'd hate to dirty your record already with a tardy."

As Goodwitch stepped out, everyone turned to look at Jaune worriedly. He sat there gobsmacked for a moment before he pointed at the door amazedly and looked to his friends for help. "Did she just make a pun?"

"I think she did." Yang whispered, afraid for her life. "Oh lord, I'll never make a pun again."

"Really?!" Ruby asked hopefully. The eight began to walk to the auditorium as Jaune quickly scrubbed his face of blood and mud, with a little help from his partner. The title seemed strange, he'd never had a partner before. He'd had deputies, friends, a brother, even at one point a crush, but never a partner. It'll be nice to not have to move his troops bodily across the battlefield. The Militia was not composed of the most competent individuals. As they reached the edge of the stage, he did one last once over, adjusted his hat and waited for his name to be called.

"Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos, Lie Ren, Nora Valkyrie, you four collected the gold rook pieces, and from this day forward will be known as Team JNPR, led by Jaune Arc." Jaune gulped and looked to his friends, all of whom seemed proud of him. He didn't want to let them down, not them as well.

"Blake Belladonna, Yang Xiao Long, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, you four retrieved the golden knight pieces and from this day forward will be known as Team RWBY, led by Ruby Rose." Ozpin remained undated at the attention that Ruby was being given, however, his eye wandered over toward Jaune as if awaiting a reaction, one he did not receive.

" _That's my baby girl!"_ Summer squealed, throwing her hands up in the air and jumping around in ethereal glee. " _She-...she's not going to be able to do it alone. She'll need your help too. Please."_

"Anything for you Summer."


	3. Author's Note

**This is an Author's Note, sorry.**

I generally despise writing Author's Notes, especially after my depression fueled quit earlier, but this needs to be done.

I have swamped myself more than I can handle. I have taken up far too many stories at one time, and there is only one way for me to fairly decide which story should be continued, and which should be delayed, therefore, I have put a poll on my profile, and I would appreciate it if you would be so kind as to respond to that poll, because I will be taking it down on August fifteenth, and at that time, the final decision will be made. Thank you for being understanding, and if you're not understanding than that's too bad; Assbutt.

Noraspace/Mister Tea Time

I will be putting up chapters for both Cowboys and Huntsmen and The Dust of the Earth, but if I get votes for another story, then I will focus on that story instead.

Many of you have noticed that the poll is not showing up on my bio, so I suppose I'll just have you leave a PM or a review with your top two favorite stories, and the one with the most votes will end up on top of my "to do" list! Thank you!


	4. Chapter 3

_Go Team JNPR! Woohoo!_ Jaune exclaimed happily, falling back on his bed as he spoke into the voice recorder. _There has been quite a bit of fuss over team positions today. Ozpin told everyone that I was the leader of the team, but I don't want this position, so I've decided that we're going to become a democracy with brief moments of dictatorship at necessary intervals, just to keep my citizens on their toes. Nora, that's one of my teammates, she keeps on calling me boss, and I don't have the heart to tell her I'm not._

 _Anyway, you know the gig Pops, I'm officially a huntsman in training and I have a team composed of the awesomest people you've ever met- and yes, I know awesomest isn't a word, but it is now! However, I also have-...less heartening news. I've had my hat stolen. Her name is Yang, and she's-...interesting to say the least, anyway, onto teammates!_

"Nora, say Hi!" Jaune encouraged, holding out the recorder.

"Hello!" The giggling ginger girl called from under her thick red blanket.

 _As you can tell, Nora is an extremely angsty middle-aged man with a smoking habit._ Jaune winked at Nora and stuck his tongue out. _She's a great gal, you'd love her, and then there's her partner, but they're not together-together, but if he asked her to marry him, she totally would. Speaking of her partner, say hello to Lie Ren._

"Say Hi, Ren." Nora urged, elbowing the taciturn man, who responded with a despondent groan as he tried to dry his hair.

"Good evening."

 _Ren's a huge socialite, you should see him in the cafeteria, you can't get him to stop talking. And then there's Pyrrha...sigh…_

 _I don't know how to describe Pyrrha, she's pretty crazy. She's going to kill me, she never smiles and she's always angry._ Jaune's partner eyed him warily, she hoped his father knew he was joking. _She also ran away from home, and she ended up on a cereal box. You're going to love her, you're going to love all of them. I can't wait to visit. Oh! Pyrrha, say Hi!_

"Hello." She seemed terse, but Jaune gave her a thumbs up and she gave a sigh of relief.

 _She's a great gal, don't worry, say hi to mom, and my sisters, and- well, Nevermind, I'll tell you more tonight._

"G'night dad!" Nora called, waving happily, even though Solomon couldn't see her.

From his place between the sheets, Ren managed a grumble that vaguely sounded like " _food fight"_ , but Jaune simply assumed he meant goodnight. Jaune looked to Pyrrha who rolled her eyes and smiled.

"Goodnight-...dad." Pyrrha whispered, suddenly looking down at her own bed with a blush the shade of cherries. Jaune winced at her tone and turned to face her, softening at her adorable face.

"Goodnight Pyrrha." Pyrrha's shoulders relaxed and she smiled. Nora cleared her throat pointedly. "Goodnight Nora."

Another pointed; " _Ahem!"_ from Nora.

"Goodnight Ren." Ren didn't respond.

* * *

 _Hey dad! It's been a while. How's Jaune? Still stuck in that old library? Well, I just wanted to let you know that I'm okay, I heard you got another medal, congrats. I've made a few friends, but…_ Roman sighed and rubbed his brow, making sure he was alone before he spoke again. _I'm in trouble. I got in deep with serious bad news. I'm in bed with the devil and she's holding me by the balls. She knows about Jaune, and you, and she said that if I don't work as her personal-...retriever, that I'd end up burying you both, so tell Jaune that he needs to stay at home, or even better, tucked in some dusty nook in that old library, just...stay safe- and keep Jaune out of my room! I love you dad._

Neo sauntered to the desk in front of him, making a big show out of crossing her legs and waggling her fingers, and he sighed. _Neo sends her love too, in her own strange way. Tell Jaune that I'm sorry about the accident and-...I'm sorry we never got to start that freelancer agency together, I love that kid. Goodnight._

Neo shot Roman a smirk and he sighed exaggeratedly, spinning the cane in his hand, walking back toward the rest of his warehouse where masked faunus milled about carrying boxes of volatile dust with all the finesse of parallel parking bullheads with turrets. "Ladies! Ladies!" He noticed a female faunus and gestured. "Gentlemen. What in the hell are you thinking?! You think you're juggling marshmallows? You're terrorists, act like it! Be professionals! Perry-"

"I'm Linus, sir!" The faunus interrupted.

Roman pointed Melodic cudgel at Linus and spoke again, slowly. "-Perry, go out back and get the forklift. I was hoping we could do this without too much noise, but I suppose without opposable thumbs, you'll have to do this the hard way."

"Yes sir." Perry agreed, turning to run for the back of the warehouse, not realizing that Roman would never fire Melodic Cudgel near all that dust.

"Grunts, mooks, thugs, goons, all just street punks! I need better help…" Roman muttered.

* * *

 _ **"WHERE IS MY HAT?!"**_ The voice of satan himself demanded, as Jaune Arc groggily rose from the blankety grave. His visage was haggard from a night denied proper sleep, and his mind was still staring at the _Updates being installed_ screen, as he tried to remember the events of yesterday. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, Pyrrha was still asleep, and would be for another hour, but Nora, being the lightest sleeper of team JNPR, was suddenly shocked awake by the insane demand. She turned to Jaune with her own eyes still hazed with sleep, and frowned.

"Didn't Yang take it yesterday?" She asked, rubbing her eyes before stretching and rolling from her bed and landing on the floor in push-up position. Jaune eyed her through his azure slits and stood.

"Where is this Yang person?" Jaune asked, his shoulders hunched and his voice still thick from sleep. Nora gave a light giggle and pointed to the door.

"She's in the room across the hall from us." Jaune growled lowly and loped to the door, not bothering to open it, simply shouldering through it without pause, fortunately, it wasn't locked. Nora followed behind and grinned as he raised his fist to bang on the door.

"Does this Yang person have a full name?" Jaune asked distractedly.

"Xiao Long." Nora smiled manically from behind Jaune and watched as he slammed his fist onto the door three times, probably waking up ninety percent of the hallway. Finally, a bleary and yawning redhead opened the door and looked at Jaune curiously.

"Jaune?"

 _ **"Are you Yang Xiao Long?"**_ Demon Jaune asked. Ruby froze and slowly shook her head, stepping to the side and pointing to where Yang's bed was, gladly throwing her sister under the metaphorical, and slightly demonic bus. Jaune didn't even bother trying to wake her up to interrogate her, he simply hefted her out of bed, still swaddled in blankets, and demanded. _**"Do you have my hat?!"**_

"I'm sorry dad, please wake up.." Yang mumbled, looking like she didn't care that she was being held up by her armpits. As she uncurled, her blankets fell down amongst her feet and she was finally exposed in the same skimpy and-... Upon further inspection, Jaune's mind began to wander. No wonder she needed all those blankets, she could probably feel every breath of wind against her nethers in so little clothing. "Why did she leave?"

Jaune mulled over that response for a moment before he spotted his hat lying across the room from them, tipped on the edge of the bookshelf. "Nevermind Yang, you may live for today."

He plopped her back on her bed and watched as she curled up into a ball, shivering. Jaune frowned thoughtfully and remembered all the times that he had put Annabeth to sleep while his father snored away downstairs, sure to have a hangover the next day, and his mother shivered in her own bed, cradling whatever bruise the monster of a man had given her that night. He remembered whispering a bedtime story to her, or helping her brush her hair, or even just sitting beside her and singing something. These instincts kicked in again as he knelt down beside Yang, ignoring Ruby's mumbles of complaint as he refused to leave. He rubbed his hand affectionately through her hair and smiled down at her, pulling her covers up to her chin and putting his hat back on her bedpost. "Take care of my hat, Mrs. Arc."

Ruby eyed him questioningly and cleared her throat. She was confused when he walked in, but it only got worse when Jaune had called Yang Mrs. Arc. "So, what was all that about?"

"You'll find out when you're older." Ruby shot him another disbelieving look and he rolled his eyes. "Would you like me to tuck you in as well?"

Ruby looked affronted for a second before truly considering the option. She blushed wildly before looking over at Yang and calming down. She looked down and nodded slowly. Jaune followed her as she went to her bed and laid down. He sat down beside her bed and began to hum something to himself. "Goodnight Rose."

" _You know, when I asked you to take care of my girls, I didn't expect you to practically adopt them."_ Summer murmured. She looked down at Ruby and her silver eyes turned hazy. _"But I can't thank you enough."_

"Anything for you Summer. Make sure Yang takes care of my hat." Jaune wandered back into the hall and frowned. He was forgetting something, but it would come back to him. He stepped to his door and tried the lock, jimmying it for a few seconds before the news sank in...he had locked himself out...in his PJ's. "Crap."

"Umm...Hello Jaune." An accented voice greeted from behind, tingling with mirth. Jaune took a deep breath and turned to face the new voice in the hallway.

"Hi!...Vel…" Velvet's smile only broadened as she spotted the bunny on his pajamas. "Okay, go ahead and laugh, get it over with."

Velvet first began to snicker, her ears twitching as she fell to the floor in the throes of humor. She finally stopped when she couldn't breathe anymore. "Oh my god, that made my day! I have to tell Coco! I'm sorry, but it's a prerequisite to always send her funny pictures. It's not you, it's her. She'll get mad at me if I don't."

"Who is this Coco person?- Wait! Adel?" He popped back to his door and began to knock quietly, slowly getting louder until Nora answered.

"Do you have Thin Mints?" She asked happily.

"I am not a Girl Scout Nora." He sighed and rubbed his eyebrows. "Now, I'm looking for a mocha colored coffee mug in there. There should be some lipstick on the side."

" _Both the boy and the cup are property of Coco Adel, if found, return to Room 221, by punishment of death! XOXO._ " Nora read with as sultry a voice as she could pull off. "This the one?"

Jaune looked nonplussed and shot Velvet a look, only to see that she was taking pictures of him in his onesie. "Let me in please, Nora. I need clothes."

"You're wearing clothes!" Nora replied happily. Jaune simply sighed and took a step back. He didn't want to have to do this, but he would.

"Nora, can I at least get my shoes?" He heard shuffling from the other side of the door and sighed. If he was going to be embarrassed in front of everyone, may as well get some bacon out of it. He looked over at Velvet, who was still recording the entire thing, and whispered pitifully. "Am I adorable Coco-sempai?"

"Oh gods, that line right there is a panty-dropper." Velvet joked, sending the video to Coco as the door to Jaune's dorm opened and closed quickly, his shoes plopping on the floor and his coat floating not far behind. His quest was about to begin.

"So...catching up on old times that we don't have over breakfast?" Jaune asked wittily. Velvet sighed, thought to herself, and nodded amicably.

Jaune stuck his arm out for Velvet to take, only for her to roll her eyes and take his arm with faux daintiness. "Sounds good to me, monsieur. Lead the way."

As the pair walked through the halls, chatting amicably, a foot suddenly found itself intertwined with Jaune's own. Perhaps on anyone else, this action would have resulted in an awkward face plant, and a thorough mocking, but this was Jaune F. Torchwick, and face planting just wasn't his style. So instead of following the rules of logic, Jaune simply bounced off the foot, sending him hovering a few inches in the air.

It was actually just a side effect of the dust infused coat, but Jaune preferred to think of it as him being awesome. "What was that?" Velvet demanded confusedly.

"I think someone was trying to bully me." Jaune frowned and tilted his head. "I've never actually gone to a school this big, so I have no experience with bullying. What do you do to bullying?"

Velvet flinched and continued, unable to look Jaune in the eye. Jaune frowned, but didn't bring it up. He knew that people had their reasons, and there was no way he'd demand someone else's secrets when he wasn't willing to give away his own. If anyone found out about his brother, there was no telling what they would do. He wouldn't be the only one in trouble though. If someone on the other side found out that Roman Torchwick's brother was in Vale, they'd all be after Jaune as leverage. "I do nothing."

Jaune shot her a sidelong look and frowned, reaching up to his head, and then pulling down his hand, sighing as he remembered that Yang still had his hat. He looked forward, not making eye contact. "I know they say that silence doesn't _feed_ violence, but it sure as hex doesn't bother closing the refrigerator behind it. Your ambivalence isn't doing anyone any good. I'm just saying."

Velvet narrowed her eyes and looked pointedly at her feet. "If a human beats the shit out of a faunus, it's a tragic racist incident. If a faunus beats the shit out of a human, it's a hate crime, a media circus of radicalization of someone like me who was just pushed too far, and not to mention that most of the people training here have some sort of big backing, either from another huntsman, or a major family, or they're celebrities in their own right."

Velvet paused, looking down and sighed. "Remaining silent is best for everyone."

They left the dorm building and squinted as the sun descended on them the same way a tense silence did. Jaune ran his hand through his hair and looped his arm around Velvet's shoulder. "This is way too heavy to be talking about now. I've met you for like one day, and we're already talking about social politics. This is supposed to be the part where we share embarrassing stories from our childhood, and introduce each other to our friends, and since my friends probably won't be awake until after our first class today, why don't we go meet yours?"

Velvet gave an airy laugh and nodded, obviously relieved. She took a step before pausing clearing her throat lightly. "I occasionally poison people's food."

Jaune pulled a hard stop and turned to face Velvet. Velvet bit her nail gently before smiling demurely. "That's-...that's one way of stopping it."

"Even in a school created to train the last bastions against darkness, there's still some serious superstition. I just started one. It's said that a rabbit's foot is a lucky charm, well, messing with this rabbit isn't good luck at all." Jaune and she shared a glance before Jaune held out his hand for a fist-bump which Velvet promptly reciprocated.

As they arrived at the cafeteria doors, Jaune scanned the room and spotted a familiar black beret. Velvet had less luck due to her stature being _less_ than six foot two. Jaune took Velvet's hand and guided her to her friends before ending up across from Coco and holding out her mug happily. Velvet laughed at Jaune's broad, innocent, open-faced smile, and asked Coco the one question that would end Jaune's giving mood. "Did you get that video I sent you?"

"Yes." Coco looked up and over the rim of her glasses. "Yes I did."

"Sooo…?"

"Yes, Jaune-kun, you are adorable." Coco affirmed, gesturing for Jaune to hand over the mug. Jaune frowned and rolled his eyes, causing Coco to smile. "So, Cherry boy, you have another of those onesies? I think I could pull off the look. What do you think?"

Velvet reared back and her ears swiveled away from Coco in disgust. Her best friend was faux flirting with her cousin. It was mortifying. It could be worse though, Jaune looked completely lost, which was better than him responding to Coco's flirting with- well, anything. It would be best that he just stands there looking surprised. "So, are you flirting with me, or are you seriously asking me for my onesie? The one I'm currently wearing right now?"

"Don't respond!" Velvet hissed, leaning toward him and nudging him with her elbow. "She can smell fear."

Coco smiled at Velvet and Jaune's flustered looks and something twinged inside her. This was her little girl, and she was growing up so fast. Maybe it was the fact Jaune was family, or maybe it was something about Jaune, but Velvet had never opened up like this before. Even Yatsuhashi can't get her to smile this much. "So, Jaune, why don't you tell me about yourself? If you and my Velvet are gonna be this close, you gotta pass muster."

"What do you want to know?" Jaune asked, leaning across the table and stealing Coco's apple happily. Coco smacked it out of his hand and had it in her mouth faster than he could give her a snarky grin.

"Tell me about your family." Jaune flinched and winced at the same time, frowning one of those frowns that Coco knew pretty well. She remembered her first year mission. It was a domestic one, an anti-gang taskforce, and she had faced victims with faces like that. Victims that knew their abusers. Children usually, but it didn't stop when they became an adult. Things followed you. The pain stopped, but the memory lingered. "Nevermind." She tried not to sound desperate, but she didn't wish that pain on anyone. "How about hobbies?"

Jaune brightened up at this and Coco caught Velvet's eye. She saw it too. "I've got a motorcycle that I work on at home, and I practically grew up in a library, so I'm pretty well versed in literature, from ancient texts, to poetry, and scripts and even some modern books like-...I'm boring you, aren't I?"

Despite Jaune's claim, Velvet and Coco were, in fact, enraptured by his sudden explosion of emotion. He didn't wear his smile, so much as emit it in waves. He oozed a happiness that, if on anyone else, would have been sickening. "No, please go on, where are you from?"

"I'm from Menagerie."

Every sound in the room seemed to stop. It was like someone had fired off a shot in the middle of the crowd, and suddenly everyone was listening in on their conversation. Coco took off her glasses and caught the eye of everyone around them, one by one, they turned away from her intense gaze and continued their conversations. "Um…" Velvet tried to find the words to describe the magnitude of the taboo that even saying the word Menagerie was. No one liked to talk about it, and even fewer people liked to think of there being someone from the cursed continent. "I wouldn't suggest mentioning that fact to anyone else."

"Why? Because it's a horrible reminder of humanity's hatred and bigotry? Or because half of the population is either White Fang, former White Fang, or White Fang sympathizers?" Jaune leaned forward and gave a smile that would have sent shivers down the spines of lesser men. Coco gave him a similarly predatory grin, and leaned forward.

"So why don't you tell me about that motorcycle you had?"

* * *

Breakfast ended out on a much calmer note, with Jaune promising to show Coco his motorcycle, and Velvet and him exchanging slightly less awkward hugs than yesterday. When he finally got back to his dorm room, the rest of his team was already dressed and prepared for class.

"Why haven't you changed yet?" Nora asked sarcastically. Jaune growled playfully and pushed her onto her bed, grabbing his uniform and gliding into the bathroom. "Just to let you know, we only have ten minutes till class, so I hope you enjoyed breakfast."

"Go on ahead of me, I'll catch up." Jaune called from inside the bathroom, quickly knotting his tie and slipping on his combat boots with ease. He heard the door open and close and grinned. "Now for the finishing touch."

Knives...so many knives…

The trip to Port's classroom was nothing more than a hop, skip and a quick sprint away. He was still late, stepping in as Professor Port began to speak about himself, which honestly meant that it could be any time during the class, but everyone was already there and half of them were asleep or distracted. As he moved to an empty seat beside Ren, he saw it, and his heart nearly stopped. She was wearing his hat, with it tipped down, shadowing over her eyes, obviously hiding the fact that she was asleep, but it was still paralyzing. That hat was one of his most prized possessions, and he expected that if he ever saw it on anyone else, he would lose his mind, but instead, it just felt like he was suddenly seeing something for the first time. Unfortunately, his moment of introspection and sudden enlightenment was stopped by a quick "Ahem."

Jaune turned to look Professor Port in the eyebrows and smiled hesitantly, praying that he wasn't in trouble for being late already. "Yes sir?"

"I would prefer if you would enter my room unarmed." Jaune's face hardly even twitched as he sighed and reached into his jacket, drawing out a small switchblade and placing it on the professor's desk. " _Completely_ unarmed, Mr. Arc."

"But Pops always said to have a knife on you at all times." Jaune responded despondently, hoping that his family tradition would allow him some grace in the professor's eyes.

"Yes, however, I do not believe that advice constitutes the need for more than one knife to be on your person." The entire class turned to stare at Jaune and he frowned. _Or not._

"You are surprisingly perceptive for a man with those eyebrows." The entire class once again tried to stifle their laughter, but their teacher did not.

He laughed boisterously and tapped his desk, gesturing the rest of Jaune's weapons. "A Huntsman does not live to be my age by being ignorant of his surroundings. You may have them back at the end of the day."

"Fine…" Jaune unbuttoned his jacket, revealing a double back holster which contained two full-tang tactical fixed blade knives. He then removed it, revealing four more knives; two strapped to his chest, and two under his arms. At this point, the whole room was staring in fear and awe. It continued this way until there lay fourteen blades on the table. "That's _all_ of them."

"No, it isn't, Mr. Arc, you still have two in your belt buckle and one strapped to the center of your chest underneath your shirt." The entire class gaped as Jaune growled, pulling two small push daggers out of his belt buckle and slowly unbuttoning two buttons of his shirt before pulling out a Kerambit that was almost six inches long. "Thank you, you may return to your seat."

"Ah yes! As I was saying! I merely refer to them as _prey_ haha!" He paused, waiting for people to laugh at his honestly weak joke. Jaune rolled his eyes and pulled out his scroll, placing it right on top of his notebook and with an almost imperceptible ease, he quickly began to run through his various news feeds. Some of which were legal, some...less so. He was connected. Well connected, and when he wanted to find someone, no one hid for long.

Except Roman.

He had access to everything from cctv in major stores to traffic cameras on main thoroughfares. There was nothing beyond his reach. He had strings across the city, and if any were even so much as touched, he would know. He had several accounts on major social networks just in case someone accidentally caught something important in one of their seventeen pictures of cake, or themselves. Nothing made Jaune's day quite like an inadvertently helpful selfie.

 _Dust robbery in commercial district. One witness, no cameras and no ID on getaway vehicle. 8/10, between 10-11:00._ Jaune shook his head. People nowadays just weren't clever enough. You don't need cctv or even anti-theft cameras to ID a getaway vehicle or a criminal. All you needed was traffic camera footage from the approximate time and location, from there it was all logic and critical thinking. If there's heavy traffic surrounding the target, then the getaway was most likely a bullhead. If there was a bullhead in the area, then they would show up on ATC, and if they did, then they would have a definite liftoff and landing location, which may not actually be where Roman's base was, but it was a start, and it would be even better if he could find their cleaner. Every bullhead used by a crook at any time in history, would have to have had their ID cleaned, and fingerprints removed, and residual dust removed or made inert. There were only so many places that could do that.

"Commercial district" Jaune mumbled to himself, so quietly that only one person heard it. He looked up at the professor and rolled his eyes. "No point dawdling."

For half an hour, Jaune sat and ignored the world entirely, so absorbed in his investigation that he couldn't bear to look away from his scroll. Finally, Jaune found what he was looking for, or at least the first of many steps to come.

So immersed in his victory, he couldn't help but whoop in glee before slamming his hand over his mouth in embarrassment. "Ha! The game's afoot!" Nothing was worse than accidentally cheering in the middle of a story about the noble sacrifice of four huntsmen and huntresses who died defending the Menagerian shores ( _That's how he got kicked out of his first school. It wasn't pretty_ ). Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, this time, he whooped in a very inconvenient answer to a question he had completely missed.

"Ahh, Mr. Arc, it's good to see young people so invigorated when it comes to the tests of being a huntsman." Professor Port gestured for him to move to the front of the room. He gulped hesitantly complied. "Now, this will be your opponent!"

"Seriously…? Didn't I already do this?" Jaune stared down the Boarbatusk and sighed. "I'm going to need a couple knives…"

* * *

 _ **"How?!"**_ Weiss demanded. She looked furious, but it wasn't actually an angry furious. More like the kind of a furious that mothers had when they walked in on their children sitting in the middle of a veritable wasteland of broken china, crayoned walls, and scratched CD's. "It wasn't even a big Grimm! It was tiny, in fact! Yet somehow, you still managed to get yourself covered in this disgusting Grimm-...Puree! It's totally inconceivable!"

Jaune scratched the back of his head and pulled his hand back, flicking a particularly large chunk of Grimm off of his middle finger. "You say that word, but I don't think it means what you think it means."

Yang laughed and adjusted the hat on her head. "I don't doubt that." Jaune resisted the urge to retrieve the hat, and instead brushed another piece of Grimm Bacon Bits out of his hair. "Next is a Professor Oobleck, lecture hall three, history and sociopolitics...fun."

" _Dear Lord! Kill me now! Bartholomew is working here!?"_ Summer demanded, probably not realizing the irony of that statement. _"Bart is the epitome of hyperactive. He couldn't complete a sentence in school without his fingers typing it out on an imaginary keyboard. He's batshit."_

Ruby, Nora and Yang sighed at the same time, hunching their shoulders and tromping on toward the classroom with all the energy of a death row inmate. Jaune shared a look with Ren and Pyrrha and shrugged, moving forward, books in hand, to one of his favorite prospective subjects. Ren's eyes began to sag as he took a few steps forward, and he nearly collapsed, if Jaune hadn't caught him. "Hey, Ren, are you okay?"

Ren shot out of Jaune's arms and nodded, beginning to raise his hands to his face, only to stop as he saw that he still had an audience. "I've never been good at sleeping in new places. I'll be fine, I'm just tired. Thanks Jaune."

Weiss stepped closer to him and stared hard at him before turning to Jaune and staring him down. She turned to Pyrrha and her stare softened. "You, Jaune Arc," She turned back to Jaune and her eyes narrowed again. "You need to watch out for your team. As-...puerile as my team leader is, she knows how to take care of her team, and you need to do the same."

Jaune looked taken aback for a second before nodding. He had grown up taking orders. He felt less intimidated by Weiss' demands than by the prospect of being the leader of his own team. "Aye aye ma'am." He looked around and noticed that the whole group was watching Weiss and his' conversation. "Alright, c'mon you slackers, it's time for class."

As the five of them made their way to class, a small following flowed behind them of people who were just frightened enough to not dare interrupt them, but who also needed to get to class on time. There was just something about seeing a dude covered in black Grimm goo...

Professor, and apparently Doctor, Oobleck watched the classroom with the same eyes that Professor Port did. That is to say, you couldn't see his eyes unless you looked directly at him from above. He had a manic grin on his face, and a cup of coffee grafted to his hand. "Good morning class! My name is Dr. Bartholomew Oobleck, and I will be showing you the stories that your parents wouldn't dare tell you at bedtime." His voice went from welcoming and bright to dark and intense in the space of a single sentence. He zipped across the room and took a sip of his drink. "Huntsmen throughout history have become symbols for humanity, of many aspects. Who here knows of Robin Sherwood? A huntsman who stands as a paragon of chaotic good. He takes from the rich and gives to the poor. How about Ishi Yahi, a huntsman from the days of the color wars? He was known by the Suppresionists as The Silent Thorn, known for his silent guerrilla tactics, capable of diverting an entire supply line right into the path of the armies of Harmony and the Aesthetists."

"However, not all huntsmen follow the path of the good. Many with huntsmen training become criminals, including the notorious Roman Torchwick." Another zip across the room. Oobleck's gaze didn't glide over the classroom as much as stomped, pushing back whatever unlucky soul dared to meet his eye, even through the coke-bottle glasses. "A man named Friedrich Nietzsche once said something that every huntsman out to look at as reference. _He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you. (Beyond Good and Evil)._ There is nothing worse in this world than a man made all-powerful that decides in himself that he can surpass man and God." Oobleck looked up at the clock and gave a start and a quick sip of his coffee.

" _Consider that entire tangent proof of my statement that he is batshit."_ Summer smirked and laid out on top of Yang's desk.

"Now! Onto our subject matter. Your syllabus has been wired to your scrolls, and you will be able to look it over later, in the meantime, let's discuss freedom and art."

"Wait!" Said a tall bulking human from the front row as he raised an arm designed to evoke a sense of smallness in others. "I thought this was supposed to be history?"

"Excellent observation Mr.-..." Oobleck looked down at the roster again and smiled. "-Winchester. However, the further we go along in this class, the more you will see that more than half of history is not a question of when, but rather, why? So tell me Mr. Winchester, what was happening in the world when the Colors War started?"

"Um...I don't know." Half of the class began to snicker.

"I know you don't know. That's why you're here: to learn." Oobleck turned back to the board and began to write on the board at sub-light speeds. "Many small wars fought in Mistral and smaller nations have been over things such as religion, laws, taxation, and even things as small as the color of someone's skin, however, the war fought across all four of the major kingdoms was based on something even more intrinsic than that. People have, for ages, believed what they like, and as long as no outward action was taken, no one important particularly cared, or for that matter, knew, until a man named Alabaster Clair was born. He had an infinitely dangerous ability, and the charisma and connections to exploit it. He could influence and read the minds of any living thing. Imagine the danger of that power."

The classroom went silent for a moment as students pondered the worst thing that could happen if a person's mind was no longer their own. Finally, Blake raised her hand. "Could this man use this power en masse?"

"No, he could not-" The bell rang and Oobleck sighed before turning away from the class. "Next class, I expect you to have a two page paper describing how you would have used this power to begin a regime that spans the globe. Be prepared to share and defend your ideas in a class discussion on Thursday, and please, do be serious about this. This man has inadvertently influenced more than you know, including your own name. Dismissed."

The class began to trickle out of the classroom, leaving only two people still in the lecture hall. Doctor Oobleck leaned over his desk to reach for his coffee, only to be stopped by Ren. "Prof-"

"Doctor." Oobleck corrected instinctually.

" _Doctor_ Oobleck. I just wanted to thank you for bringing up Ishi Yahi, he was one of my ancestors, and unfortunately he is often lost in the annals of history. We know him in my home language as Chénmò de jīngjí. I'm glad some people bother to remember." Ren bowed low and walked out the door, running into Nora as the diminutive, yet somehow colossal girl smiled calmly.

"Combat class is next. I can't wait! It's going to be so much fun, even if I don't get to fight, at least I can watch someone else fight." Nora bounced along beside Ren, smiling broadly and generally exuding an aura of barely suppressed energy, and not just the emotional kind. "Come on Ren, smile for me?"

"Not yet." Ren replied quietly. "But soon."

"I'll wait."

As the duo approached the arena, they ran into the rest of team JNPR who seemed to be in a complicated battle of who could be politer. Jaune was holding one of the doors open for Pyrrha while she gestured for him to enter first. Finally Nora picked them both up and dragged them through the doors, laughing happily. Ren's eyes softened and he nodded slowly. "Very soon."

As team JNPR settled into their seats beside team RWBY, Glynda Goodwitch strode into the room with a natural grace and fatality only seen in rare breeds of vipers. She turned on her heel to gaze across the classroom, and unlike Oobleck's forceful crushing of the wills of whoever was unlucky enough to meet his eye, Glynda didn't deign to even bother with their souls, instead, barely noting their existence before moving on. "My name is Glynda Goodwitch, and I will be your combat instructor for the next four years." She spoke succinctly and without emotion. "You will be paired off randomly into matches, and will fight either until one party can no longer stand, or until one's aura hits the red. Our first match will be between-..."

The whole class' eyes moved from professor Goodwitch to a blinking roulette-like wheel that showed the faces of the entire class. "Sky Lark, and Lie Ren." Jaune barely had to glance at Sky Lark to know that this battle wasn't going to go his way. "Please prepare yourselves and enter the stage promptly."

Jaune's mind drifted as he patted Ren on the back. Ren's weapons were small combat knives attached perpendicular to submachine-guns. His main advantage, however, was speed. Analytically, Ren was a shoe in for victory in pretty much every battle he entered, however, analysis wasn't everything. Ren stepped onto the stage silently in usual green garb, with both of his weapons still concealed. Sky strode out the opposite door confidently, his Halberd spinning lazily in his left hand as he stomped onto the stage, his hideous mullet staying permanently slicked into place by some combination of superglue and force of will. "So, I heard that you and that pink haired girl have been together for a while, but not 'together-together'? Dude, with tits like that, I would have fucked her years ago."

"Begin." Goodwitch said, and without a second delay, Ren was upon Sky, one arm holding onto the handle of Sky's halberd, keeping it away from his body, and the other arm wrapped around Sky's left arm before Ren kicked him in the chest, while still holding his arm, which gave a sickening _POP,_ before Sky screamed out in pain. Ren then spun on the ball of his foot and axe kicked the arm that still held the halberd, causing an even more disconcerting _CRACK_ , and another scream of pain. Finally, Ren grabbed onto the back of Sky's mullet and pulled himself up while pulling his enemy down, slamming one foot onto Sky's calf, and his other knee into Sky's chin. The entire battle had occurred in less than a minute, and Ren hadn't even drawn his weapons. "That's enough."

"As you can see, Sky's aura has now entered the red, signifying the end of the ma-"

"He broke my arm!" Sky yelled, one arm hanging limply, while the other was clutched close to his chest. "He broke my arm and he just walks away!?" Sky demanded, his voice rising. "Isn't that against the rules?"

"Did I mention it in the rules I stated before the match?" Goodwitch asked calmly. Sky stopped dead. "We're in a combat school, Mr. Lark, I am training you to fight Grimm; monsters that will not hesitate to break your arms, or your legs, and would, at the slightest chance, kill you. You are lucky your aura depleted when it did, otherwise, Mr. Lie might have broken your ribs as well. Grimm don't stop at tournament rules, nor do they pause so you can retrieve your weapon. They kill, and I am training you to do the same."

"Next time you say something about Nora, I will not hesitate to break your neck." Ren stated without any venom in his voice. He said it like he was telling Sky he was going to pick up milk at the grocery store. Goodwitch either didn't hear the threat, or didn't care.

"The next match will be-" Goodwitch was cut off by a voice in the crowd.

"I want to fight the bastard that hurt my teammate!" Cardin stood up and yelled at the stage. He stomped past the rest of the class and without waiting for the professor's go-ahead, he drew his mace.

"Mr. Lie has just fought, Mr. Winchester, you will have to fight someone else." Another voice spoke up and Goodwitch muttered under her breath. "One more interruption, and I'm killing them all. Yes, Mr. Arc?"

"I'll fight in Ren's place." Jaune said calmly. He stood as well, but unlike Cardin, he didn't march to the ring, he strode gracefully, only pausing beside Yang to retrieve his hat momentarily. "I'll give this right back. Promise."

"I'm going to break your skull like an egg, and then I'm going to kill that bastard in green, and then I'm going to break that pink haired girl's-"

"Her hair's not really pink. It's actually a sort of orange color, and you're not going to get anywhere near them, not for a while. You'll be stuck in a wheelchair." Jaune gave an eerie smile that wouldn't have been out of place on a reptile. "Ren may go for the arms, but I'm an equal opportunity bone breaker."

"Begin." Goodwitch said boredly. Gloating and threatening before a fight was to be expected out of young students. She would soon disavow them of these things. Slowly and painfully.

Jaune was the first to attack, screaming loudly and charging at Cardin wildly. Cardin just waited for him to get in range, only for Jaune to suddenly stop just out of Cardin's swing radius. He took his shield off his arm and looked at it ponderously for a second before he turned to Cardin and said jocularly. "Catch."

He gave it a light toss toward Cardin's face and as Cardin reached up, either to bat it away, or to catch it, he made his move, stepping lightly into Cardin's guard, ducking below his right arm and slamming the flat of his blade across Cardin's shin's, causing two sickening _SMACK_ sounds. Cardin almost flipped completely over before landing flat on his back. Jaune spun on the ball of his left foot before dropping to his knees, grabbing Cardin's shin and shoulder-rolling over it, dragging his target's ankle along with him, in the opposite direction that the leg is supposed to bend. As soon as a horribly wet _CRACK_ sound echoed through the arena, Jaune released Cardin's leg and used his elbow to permanently end the Winchester line. The boy gave a light whimper and curled into a ball. "Bastard is a very rude word." Jaune admonished.

"Are you done now, Mr. Arc?" Professor Goodwitch asked. Jaune stood to his full height and nodded once, before sighing and relaxing in posture, sheathing his sword and pirouetting toward the crowd.

"Yep! I had fun." He grinned and jaunted pleasantly off the stage, a little skip in his step. He stopped in front of Yang, who looked at him with something akin to fear in her eyes. He stopped and placed the hat back on her head. "After class, we need to talk."

Yang couldn't bring herself to disagree. She nodded slowly and Jaune smiled softly. "Sure…"

"Class!" Goodwitch announced, her voice almost matronly. "This is not what you are training to be. This is a fighting style like any other, it is vicious, and deadly, but the only thing that separates it from most fighting styles is the lack of control." She turned to Jaune who had the decency to look sheepish. "Control, Mr. Arc, is the sign of true power."

The bell rang and the entire class seemed to jump in terror as the atmosphere was broken by the sound. "Dismissed." The seats started to empty, and Yang did everything she could to prolong the inevitable. She had no idea what Jaune was planning, but after that display, she didn't know if she could bear it. Unfortunately, she was finally shooed out of the classroom as the Second years filed in. Time to grin and joke, Yang thought to herself. As she turned the corner to come face to face with Jaune, she was even more surprised to see him slumped against the wall, clutching his legs and shaking.

"Jaune?" Yang asked timidly. Yang never did anything timidly. Timid wasn't in her nature, but there was something about watching a boy that used to be her friend turn from a sadistic monster into a sobbing mess in mere minutes that changed one's point of view. She slid down the wall beside him and rubbed his back. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"The hat-... _My_ hat...is important to me. I didn't know when to tell you, but there's a tradition in my hometown. It's strange, but I always took it seriously. Before- before class, I wanted to tell you about it, but now...I don't know if I should, because I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't be able to accept your answer right now. S-so, if you could just-...I don't know...I'll tell you later. It's not important." Jaune tried to stand up, but Yang pulled him back. She patted his head and smiled.

"Lay it on me. I can take it." Her voice had the faintest edge of tears on it, but Jaune tried to ignore it. "Come on! I'm a Xiao Long, we're tough as nails!"

"It's an engagement ring." He said quietly, and Yang's blood turned to ice. She didn't need to ask what he meant, she could feel the hat suddenly growing heavier on her head. She still felt obligated to ask.

"Wha- howzat?"

Not to say that she would be intelligible when she asked.

"The hat is like an engagement ring. If a guy is wearing it, he's single, and if a girl is wearing it, she's engaged." Already, Yang was reaching to take the hat off. "I get that you don't want-...that...and everything it brings, but please, don't-...please don't treat me differently. I like being your friend, and this whole thing is weird, and I don't want it to get any weirder. So, please...if you give it back, just- p- pretend nothing happened."

Yang paused. She didn't want the hat, and she didn't think Jaune wanted her pity, but she couldn't shake the feeling that there was something right about this, whatever _this_ was. She looked at the hat in her hands, and then at Jaune. Sure, she had just met him, and maybe it would just be her satiating her curiosity, but maybe something more could come from it. It would be fun. What's the worst that could happen. Jaune just admitted to not wanting anything to get in the way of their friendship, so as long as she doesn't let it go crazy, it should be fine...right? "I think I'll hold onto it for a little while longer."

Jaune looked up at Yang, and she could see the red rimming his eyes. This whole thing was just an idea in her head not a second ago, but suddenly, she wanted to just hold him close and whisper that it would be okay. "I don't need your pity Yang. If you don't want this then just drop it."

"What if I want to give it a try?" Yang asked seriously. "So, maybe I'm not taking this whole thing as seriously as you would like, but maybe we could at least try it out. If it falls through, then it falls through, and I'm sorry, but we won't know until we try."

Jaune frowned for a second before he finally smiled hesitantly. "I've never had a girlfriend before, so tell me if I'm doing it wrong, okay?"

"Tell you what to do? I think I'll manage." Yang joked, grabbing Jaune's hand lightly. "So, why were you crying?" No one could say that Yang was subtle.

"I lost control." Jaune sighed and leaned over onto Yang's shoulder. He sighed and rubbed at his eyes, massaging his forehead. "You know, I've never really had to fight other people. For most of my life, I've fought Grimm. I've never had to worry about broken arms and ranged weapons. It was simple. Kill or be killed."

"But now, you're surrounded by people, and you've got no idea how to fight them without hurting them." Yang continued, leaning her head on top of his. "You're not used to sparring. It's a lot harder than it seems, especially for more brutal fighters. If someone's style is reliant on debilitating the opponent, then a battle against anyone here would be difficult to keep clean. You should just spread your tactical vocabulary. I know it's weird to hear from me, but my dad taught me a lot of what I know because learning a style at school was taking too long, and I needed something to learn that wouldn't leave my opponent spitting blood."

"Do you think you could teach me?" Jaune asked quietly. Yang shrugged and nodded. "Thanks Yang." Jaune gave a weak laugh and continued. "I'm glad I've got a girlfriend as awesome as you."

"I know . Now come on, we've got studying to do. Then dinner, sparring and an eight hour cat-nap to look forward to." Jaune gave a small laugh and looked down. More like a two hour cat-nap and a quick jaunt into a possible gang den. Fun. Yang pulled him to his feet and they walked off to the library together.

Life braced for the shitstorm that it was about to drop on Jaune for beginning to hope.


	5. Chapter 4

The sound of an engine was the only thing that cut through the chilly night air as Jaune Arc traversed the industrial district, graffiti marred the once pristine walls and sidewalks. Not only was the industrial district uninhabited at night, it was deserted during the day as well. There were no innocent bystanders in this area of town, if someone was out here, they didn't have good intentions. Even at the Club, their most legitimate business was still slightly less than legal. Jaune Arc didn't just roll along the road though. Surrounded by thugs and crackheads, he swaggered through the streets, because he knew that against all suspicion otherwise, these streets were his, whether their residents knew it or not. With his sword slung across his back, Jaune strolled into the Club whimsically. He nodded to the two guys outside and grinned predatorily. _Go ahead boys, the slightest move. Glare at me, growl, move your hand too close to your weapon, anything for me to claim self-defense. It's my word against yours, and you'll be having trouble with words when you have to sift through the gutter to find your teeth._ The suited men stepped to the side as Jaune moved past them briskly. "I thought so." He growled.

Inside was a different story. There was a different feel in here, no longer was this a place for crackheads and thugs, this was a place for tycoons and rich kids who wanna feel rebellious without the danger. He sidled up to the bar and almost retched at the smell of perfume that permeated from the two girls that began to flank him from behind. Without turning around, he motioned for the bartender. "I want three screaming orgasms, one for me, and one for each of the girls."

The bartender probably rolled his eyes but complied. Obviously more composed than most, he slid along the drinks, pulling down and pouring a couple of different bottles into three cosmopolitan glasses. "Vodka, Vacuan Cream, and Kahlua. I give you a screaming orgasm." It wasn't a part of the job to say it like that, but the customers liked it, and it got him more tips.

"Ladies, please, sit down and have a screaming orgasm." Another person, taller this time, and definitely heavier (If his footsteps were anything to go by), stepped up behind Jaune and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm afraid I only ordered three, but if you ask nicely I can get you a Dr. Pecker."

"We don't allow huntsmen in this bar. They're expensive." Jaune rolled his eyes and downed his screaming orgasm in one go before reaching up, grabbing the big guy's hand by the thumb and flinging him over his shoulder, twisting at the last minute to break his thumb, just for good measure. Jaune flung a drink at each girl and hopped over the bar as they knocked the drinks away and recovered.

He stood on top of the bar and drew his sword, pointing it into the big guy's neck before looking around the bar. "I'm looking for a guy named Junior, he's important, right? Well, either I talk to him or I paint this bar re- well, _more_ red."

"I _am_ Junior!" The big man called from underneath Jaune's blade. Jaune looked down at him, moved the sword slightly to the side and nodded slowly. He stepped back and landed back on the ground, his sword now pointed at a very different, but no less important, part of Junior's body, causing the grizzly man to grumble quietly. "What is it with blondes and my balls?"

"Hush, you big baby, I haven't touched your balls yet." Jaune reprimanded. "Now, let's find somewhere quiet where we can get talk. And when I get back, I want another screaming orgasm for the road."

The bartender rolled his eyes at that and let his head hang slightly. God, he wanted to kill these rich bastards who walked around like they owned the place. Oh well, the money was excellent, and the health insurance wasn't half bad. "Me and Miltia want those two screaming orgasms still."

"Yes ma'am." The bartender responded, turning to begin the cycle of mixing anew. _I'm not paid enough for this._ He looked up at where Junior's office would be and silently wished him well. This club had a bad history with blonde Hunters.

* * *

"What do you want?" Junior didn't even sound angry when Jaune forced him into the chair in the office and locked the door behind him. "Look, if you had just listened for two minutes, I could have gotten your id and had you guarantee not to cause problems, then you could've had your drinks and left in peace."

"Oh no! I hold nothing against your beef with huntsmen, that's completely legitimate considering the legality of your illegitimate business. I'm just here for three things; a gun, a reputation, and information." Jaune smiled and waved at the twins as he closed the shutters. "So, first things first, I need a gun, but not one from you. From you, I need a private delivery service. I figure that any information broker has his thumbs in lots of pies, no?"

"I can deliver things." Jaune had moved to the other side of Junior's desk and sat in a comfortable reclining chair with his legs crossed in an oddly effeminate way. "But as soon as we begin to talk location, this becomes a business transaction, and that means I need something in return."

"What do you accept as payment?" Jaune asked, his face taking on a serious visage only reserved for combat and negotiation. Junior, while still nursing his thumb, retrieved a bottle of spirits from under his desk, placing it on the table before withdrawing two tumblers from the same place. He slid one towards Jaune who shrugged and downed it before he remembered what happens when he gets drunk.

"You don't look like the type with money, or connections, but you look tough, so maybe you can be of some use to me anyway." Junior slugged his own drink before continuing. "Sometimes, a person like me needs muscle. I either need to sell it out or I need it in case someone with a grudge comes calling."

"I have a feeling there's something else you want though." Jaune leaned back and smirked, he felt confident, too confident, he knew he needed to calm down, but he could barely hold back gleeful laughter. "So, what else would a guy like you need muscle for?"

"I-" Junior began, but Jaune interrupted him.

"Rhetorical question." Jaune said plainly. "Now, deducing time! So, as earlier mentioned, lots of pies with thumbs in them. You have an underground fighting ring here, downs- no, upstairs. I keep on forgetting that there aren't any basements here. You see, I'm very clever, and you're-...not so much, but you're smart. Rich kids want to drink, do drugs and gamble without having to worry about getting mugged, and what better gambling sport than a bloodsport. Let two skilled fighters duke it out, and let twenty percent of the winnings go to you, right?"

"Seventeen percent." Junior interrupted. "We make the rest off of seating and promotion."

"How sporting of you." Jaune nodded happily. "So, you want me to fight up there? Not despite the fact that I'm a huntsman, but because I'm a huntsman. In the bar, I'm expensive, but up there, I'm a cash cow! So, here's my counter deal. I'll fight your top three strongest fighters at the same time and agree to one month of goonship, if you'll get me a delivery from Menagerie."

"No, I'm going to need more than one fight to make up that money." Junior retorted. Jaune smiled. He had Junior hook, line, and sinker, and the best part was that Junior didn't even know it yet. Now it was just time to reel him in.

"Oh, you'll get more than one fight, just not from me. I'll bring you in new recruits, huntsmen-in-training looking to beat the crap out of someone and make money while they're at it. You get a few fresh faces every month, I get my delivery, and you can even wheedle some goonship out of them as well, what do you say, Junior? You willing to make a long term exponential investment?"

Junior looked contemplative, but Jaune knew that it was nothing but a stalling tactic, Junior had already decided. "So, let's say that I accept the deal, how am I supposed to restore face from that stunt you pulled downstairs?"

"What makes you think I'm going to let you do that?" Jaune asked, tilting his head with a condescending smile. "Didn't you hear me? I'm here for more than one thing. The gun is being paid for, and the reputation is going to pay for itself. If you try and backstab me, I'll come back, and I'll throw you over your own bar, and then I'll throw your bouncers out and then I'm going to take every single of your grunts and I'm going to hang them by their thumbs from the rafters. That reputation will stay right where it is. Now, as for the information, that I can pay for."

"You think you're goi-!" Junior exploded, only for Jaune to prod at his throat with his sword, not quite cutting into skin. Jaune slowly moved his sword to the side and ran it, blade first, up Junior's cheek. Junior winced, expecting Jaune to cut his ear off, but instead, only felt a slight pricking sensation as Jaune gave his left sideburn a _very_ close shave.

"I do more than think. I know that you're going to give me what I want to know, or I'm going to go downstairs and get a far more public reputation. I walked into Junior's club and destroyed it. _Or_ , I walked into Junior's club, fearlessly attacked someone almost twice my size and then patched things up with him over drinks. I walk out of this either as a man who can destroy Junior's entire empire in one night, or I walk out as a businessman who can talk his way out of anything. So, you choose." Jaune was winning, and he knew it. Junior knew it, and Junior's choice was just a consolation prize. The larger man hefted himself off of his chair and moved to a filing cabinet. The blonde watched him lazily and only smirked as he drew a scroll from his pocket. "Well, Junior, it's been a blast, but now I must leave. I'll be back tomorrow, so you have two options. Either you can prepare for my fight, or you can prepare to fight me."

"I'll call in my best." Junior sighed. This kid had him more by the balls than that other blonde did. "But who should I tell them is fighting?"

Jaune sighed at Junior's paltry last hurrah, trying to wheedle out a name from him was just foolhardy. "Tell them that they'll be fighting The Cowboy." Jaune didn't care how corny the name sounded, it had meaning, and if Roman heard it, he'd know that Jaune was looking for him. It was dumb to give the name, but Roman didn't like surprises.

* * *

"I don't like surprises!" Roman yelled, towering over a White Fang grunt as he looked over a dust shipment manifest. "Where's the guard log? Where's the weight data? Where's the containment protocols? Where are the flight plans? Where's the call sign data? How about the docking procedures?!"

"U- uh...well-" The grunt tried to stutter something out, but Roman was on a roll. Cinder put him in charge of a crew of incompetents, but there were still some things that Roman accepted only the best of, like information.

"There are thousands of facets to the perfect heist, and you've managed to blunder dozens of them." Subtle footsteps from behind him drew his attention to two approaching figures. One, a solid ten on a scale of one to mortally terrifying, and the other was a smug looking boy with gray hair and a bit of a limp. "Oh, _hello_ Cinder! How are you and- your pet doing today?"

Mercury stepped forward to attack Roman, but Cinder stopped him halfway. "Mercury and I are just here to check on my most important asset. Speaking of which, where is darling Neo, anyway?"

"Ha. Ha." Roman enunciated dryly. "Neo is out running favors for me. It takes more than one intelligent life form to run a criminal empire." He turned away from Cinder and only hoped that Neo had gotten the message to make herself scarce. "So, what do you want Cinder? I'm on a bit of a tight schedule, what with the sudden increase in demand of dust. I'm currently managing, and thusly, don't have time for interruptions."

"Roman~" Cinder's voice stayed quiet and almost slurred. "You know better than to disrespect me. I know where your precious brother is, and it would just be a shame if his lovely library burned down. I hear he is quite attached to it."

"What I meant to say was; how can I help you tonight?" Roman's entire soul screamed at him that Jaune would be so disappointed. He would have that small frown, with his eyes so full of love that it hurt. Jaune's eyes closed in Roman's mind and white walls and beeping machines filled the space. "It always is so lovely to hear from you, dear."

Cinder's smile snaked its way from ear to ear and didn't seem to end quite on this side of sane. After a sufficient dramatic pause was allotted for Roman to sweat and her to bask in yet another battle won, she spoke softly. "This young man is named Mercury. Teach him how to fight. Show him the ropes. Make him useful."

"How's this geezer going to tea-" Mercury was cut off by Melodic Cudgel bouncing between his legs, knocking them outward and then straight up into his Pearls of Paradise. Mercury collapsed onto the ground for a second and began to breath through the pain, but a second was all Roman needed to shove the muzzle of his gun into the mercenary's ear and then slam his head into the ground. Once. Twice. Three times, Mercury's head bounced off the concrete. He pushed his hands under him and swung his body around, aiming to knock Roman's legs out from under him, but instead, Roman flicked his cane up into Merc's face, knocking him backwards and throwing him off balance. Mercury winced as he felt the cartilage in his nose slowly knit back together. Finally, as he began to stand, thinking that his beating was over, he came face to barrel with Roman's cane. Roman pulled the trigger and watched unconcernedly as Mercury's head hit the ground again, this time, sporting a large burn across his face.

"He called me old. It seemed appropriate." Roman shrugged and continued walking. Cinder simply stared at Mercury's prone form for a second or two before gesturing to the shadows. A small girl stepped out and into the light, her scant clothing hiding very little of her dark skin. Nearby, in another section of shadows, an even smaller girl frowned in anger, her eyes betraying the silent screams of those that had dared cross her before.

"Did you see enough?" Cinder asked quietly. The girl nodded and walked away silently. "Mercury, get up." The boy didn't move, and Cinder gave a light growl. Mercury had _actually_ lost. He was supposed to play dead after a few good hits, but instead he ends up unconscious. Roman needs a tighter leash.

"Are you waiting for something Cinder?" Roman asked in faux, almost manic, happiness. Cinder shook her head and frowned. A _much_ tighter leash. Neo was far too capable to be threatened by anyone bar Tyrian. Roman himself could probably go a few rounds with Hazel himself, and Solomon Torchwick in his Farwood citadel could outlast death himself. The weak link was Juan. Juan Torchwick needed to be found.

In a nearby industrial district, a certain blonde felt a surge of anger wash over him and he whispered to himself.

"It's Jaune, dammit." Several crackheads in the alley he had just passed suddenly felt an urgent need to reform their ways and help old ladies across streets.

"I have a lovely bottle of red in here when you're done standing around menacingly." Roman called in a lilting tone. Cinder ordered her thoughts, schooled her expression and nodded soberly to herself and an invisible Neo in the rafters. "There we are, darling."

 **And the Evening and the Morning were the Second Day...**

* * *

Gasp and bask in awe at the rare and graceful Author's Note in its natural habitat.

So, some of you intelligent individuals will be having problems following all of the subtlety of the tiny waving plot strands flowing through the breeze, and lately, it's been irking me. I am making sense, just not yet. There's a reason that an author continues to write. If you want a story that _always_ makes sense, go read some fluffy tripe or even some smut, that sounds like fun, doesn't it? Everyone else here, including the _even more_ intelligent people in the back row, there is a reason to everything, so instead of saying things like: that doesn't make sense, or why would he do that? He should (insert correction of choice), that's totally OoC. Well, yes it is, isn't it. So is WhiteRose, so is Bumbleby, and Baked Alaska. I could go on, but the point is that there is a method to my madness. There's a reason for Jaune's huge mood swings, and Yang's sudden dive into a relationship. All will be explained, so hold your gorram horses, and stop making me mad. I don't write well when I'm mad. Plus, I'd love to see some people guessing as to where this goes next, because I like to find clever people who think like me. So, here comes the obligatory Author phrase:

I beg of you, my fair purveyors of literature, follow my foibles, favorite my follies, and review my rows. Pretty please?


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello, it's me**  
 **I was wondering if after all these years you'd like to meet** **the next chapter. This one was a pain because I had lost not only my inspiration, but also general direction. I didn't know what I wanted to do in this story. Most of the important things to my plot will actually be happening every other chapter, when Jaune is having his night escapades. There is minor plot threads being pieced together during the day, but that's just another part of another plot line.**

 **I just wanted to apologize for the lateness of this, and I ask that any and all reviews or PM's include some form of verbal abuse. I'm into that sort of stuff...**

 _Good night dad. I love you so much, but now isn't a good time to get into it. I just feel...so confused._

He rolled onto his side and pushed himself up before falling back onto his butt. "Yeah, maybe I'll try to get an hour or two of sleep anyway." His eyes drifted closed and he stumbled his way to his bed, slumped to the side, and began snoring peacefully before long.

* * *

 _Dad-...?_ Roman was on the verge of tears, his arms wrapped around Neo's petite frame as she dozed peacefully. _Keep. Jaune. Safe._

He looked at the crates of dust stacked so high that they faded into the shadows of the ceiling. His eyes scanned the surroundings for threats as he tried to suffocate the surfacing memories of Jaune's cold, clammy hands as he lay in a hospital bed, wrapped in bandages and sprouting tubes from everywhere. The smell of disinfectant still lingered on his clothes, or maybe it was just Roman's mind playing tricks on him. The criminal wasn't willing to put Jaune on the line. Seven years together made them brothers, as much as he had changed, that wouldn't. He whimpered, the most pitiful sight in the world, as Neo pretended to sleep.

 _Please._

* * *

 _Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Goddammit Yang! Stupid!_ Yang glared into the mirror of Team RWBY's dorm and barely repressed the desire to slam either her head into the sink, or her fist into the wall. Yesterday was a horrible choice. If she had known that the day would end like that, she would have just stayed in bed all day, even if it was the first day of classes. _It's not like I even_ _ **like**_ _Jaune, it was just some curious flight of fancy, Damn it!_

 _What do I do, Summer?_ Yang pleaded silently, looking up at the light in annoyance. _What do I do…_ She eyed the hat hanging on the edge of the medicine cabinet and winced. She really hated that hat right now. It represented something- difficult. She didn't like Jaune like that. It had taken eight hours of sleep and half an hour of ceiling gazing, but it was obvious that her feelings for Jaune stopped at funny guy friend who's kinda cute, but not in a sexual way at all. _I know hindsight is supposed to be 20/20, but this should have been obvious. His pouty face was just too powerful!_

So much for self-control. Yang really needed to see a therapist...or do yoga...or _something!_ "This sucks."

Then it came to her in the greasiest, most disturbing and morally abhorrent epiphany ever. _What's the minimum amount of time that I should pretend to be his girlfriend before I tell him the truth?_

Like I said; suckiest epiphany ever...of all time. "Yang, are you done?" Ruby whined from the other side of the bathroom door. Yang sighed and finished her morning, pre-clothes routine and left the bathroom to get dressed.

"Took you long enough. You're not the only one who wants their hair to be immaculate. Do you know what happens to white when you sweat? It turns translucent! It's mortifying." Weiss would have continued had Yang's eyes not turned on her, reminiscent of freshly spilled blood. Hers if she continued talking. "Ahem...alright. Um...Carry on."

Yang took another step into the room and was stopped by another obstacle, this time in the form of her partner. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing, just- yeah, it's nothing." Yang took a step to the left, and Blake mimicked her perfectly.

"Ignoring the fact that you're lying, what's wrong?" This time, her voice was more insistent, going so far as to say pleading. While emotions weren't Blake's strong suit, she would be remiss to leave her curiosity unsatiated. "C'mon."

Yang looked deep into Blake's eyes and took her hand. "Follow me."

As they left the dorm and stepped into the hallway, Yang leaned in toward Blake and began to whisper her horribly depressing circumstances into her ear, all while watching out in case someone came down the hall. Blake took a step back and blinked a couple times in surprise. "Wow…"

"So, now you see why I have no clue what to do." Yang ran her hands through her hair and looked cautiously down the corridor. Blake looked back on her limited experience with men and frowned. She had never known a man quite like Jaune. He was strange. He had a gaping hole in his personality that seemed to jump straight from joking and sarcastic, to brutal and almost animalistic, and while Adam could be quite the psychopath, he was always very orderly in his approach to murder. He believed in destroying his enemies in a calm and horribly organized manner, and he couldn't understand how a sense of humor worked. She did remember how all of the male Fang agents would often crowd around magazines and scrolls and smile and laugh crudely. Once or twice, she had caught pictures of scantily clad women, and occasionally she had caught them staring at her when Adam wasn't looking.

"Well, from my experience, he just needs another distraction. Another girl to fixate on-...err, sexually? I'm not sure how it works, but he'll probably be okay with you leaving if he has a second girl to hop to." Blake wasn't positive if that came out right, or if that was even how it worked, but she was firing blind, and hoping that it was even slightly true.

"But who?" Yang demanded. "And that still leaves me with the problem of having to dump him at some point." Blake's mind went into overdrive as she tried to find some sort of answer to satiate the questions on Yang's mind.

"If you can find someone that he likes, maybe even more than you, you could get him to dump you." Blake paused, seeing a similar flaw in the second plan even more. "I- I don't know who yet, but at least this plan saves you from having to break his heart because of a bad decision, you'll just be-...letting him go."

Yang groaned and leaned her head back on the wall again. "I mean…"

"He hangs out with Velvet a lot…" Blake offered.

"Cousin."

"Weiss?"

"Too stuck up."

"Ru-...err...Pyrrha?"

"Too vanilla."

"Nora?"

" **Ren.** "

"Umm…" Blake paused, sighed and thought to herself. _Take one for the team…_ "I could do it…" Yang paused and looked at her. She looked at her some more, and at some point seemed to look past her, into her soul. "Yang?"

"I just realized something." Yang whispered to herself. "You're the best partner ever." She gathered up Blake in a hug and then let go quickly. "But how do we get him to fall for you?"

"Prolonged exposure?" Velvet suggested from behind Yang, her voice a venomous hiss. She was somehow hidden from view, despite her tall ears. "That's how you catch most diseases."

Yang's temper flared faster than her common sense. She whirled around and glared stiffly at Velvet. "Hey! That's my partner!"

"And that's my family!" Velvet hissed back, pointing towards Team JNPR's dorm. "You're treating his heart like it's a sodding hot potato! What's wrong with you?!" She went to knock on JNPR's door, only for Yang to grab her arm before she could. "Let go of me."

"Don't tell him, please!" Yang begged. Velvet grabbed her arm and before she knew it, Yang was flat against the wall with one arm twisted so far up her back that she could swear the bone was already creaking.

"You are in no position to tell me what to do. If I tried, I could dislocate your shoulder and elbow in less than three seconds, long before your friend could step in." Velvet gave a light tug to Yang's arm to prove her point. Yang gave a quick yelp as she finally realized what one year really meant in a hunter's education. "You have three days to tell him the truth, and if you don't, I'll tell him myself, and then I'll break your legs."

Velvet continued down the hallway, pausing only for a second before doubling back and knocking on Jaune's dorm's door. "Scram." She hissed, causing Blake to hastily shuffle back into her dorm, and Yang to scurry back in as quickly as she could. "Hey Jaune~"

He poked his head out quickly and smiled beatifically. "Be right there, just let me grab my jacket." Velvet rolled her eyes and smirked, crossing her arms and exaggeratedly tapping her foot. Jaune squirmed out of the room a minute later, smiling. "I finally snuck out quietly enough to not wake Nora."

"No, you didn't." Nora whispered as the door closed. Jaune sighed and looked down in faux despondency.

Velvet giggled and walked down the hallway, arm in arm with Jaune as they made their way to the cafeteria.

In the RWBY dorm, however, things were not so lighthearted. Yang panted in fear as the image of complete powerlessness she had just experienced flowed through her mind.

Three days. Three days to break this boy's heart. She hadn't even known him that long. She'd just have to find a reason to break up with him. How hard could it be?

* * *

"This will be the most difficult task you will ever undertake!" Professor Peach exclaimed, then paused for a moment and shrugged. "Or at least the most difficult one you'll ever experience on a Thursday before lunch-! Actually, to be completely honest, it's rather tame, but don't tell my class that, I'm trying to intimidate them."

Professor Peach took a deep breath and sighed contentedly before turning sharply on her right foot and staring into a completely full classroom. She cleared her throats and tacked an angry scowl on her face.

"Do you know how late you are?! We've already wasted ten minutes of class, waiting for you!" She harrumphed and looked down at her notes. "This is Mundane Tasks 101, if this is not the class you- wait! I'm supposed to be teaching the first years Survival Basics 101 in room 125! Oh dear!"

She quickly bustled out of the room and down the hall for a couple seconds before calmly striding back and into the classroom. "Hello class, this is Survival Basics in room 125...I did not know that."

Jaune tried to keep a straight face, he really did, but the battle was lost. He broke into a full laugh, quickly covered by a faux fit of coughing. "I'm sorry professor, could you remind me what class this is?"

"This is...that one class...umm…" Professor Peach looked flustered for a moment before she coughed pointedly and decided to move on. "I do- um-...I'm just going to-...Survival Basics! Yes! First rule of surviving. Don't die."

Jaune leaned to Yang and asked innocently. "So, are we supposed to be taking notes on this?" Yang responded with a nervous cough and short chuckle, looking away with flushed cheeks and a nervous tip of his- or rather, her hat. She looked good in the hat, and Jaune took pride in that, however, what he didn't take pride in was the absolute stupidity he had displayed with telling Yang about the hat in the first place. Seriously though. Summer was right, as usual, and Jaune was just in the wrong frame of mind to listen. "Hey Yang-"

Yang's hair whipped into his face as she whirled on him. "Yeah?" Her eyes were wide and almost manic.

"Err...nevermind…" He leaned back as she pulled the hat down a little tighter on her head and blushed even brighter red. _Yikes. She seems stressed. It might just be time for a tactical retreat._ Jaune leaned back a bit and returned his attention to professor Peach at the front of the room. _So, she's freaking out about this more than I am. Good to know. I just hope that she's willing to give this a try too._

Jaune wasn't sure why he had told Yang about the importance of the hat, but he had, and now it was time to man up, take care of Yang, and make sure this quasi-relationship worked out. "Actually, Yang, I was wondering if you were busy this Saturday."

She froze. _Oh crap! Did I drop that too suddenly?! Did I ask wrong?!_

Meanwhile, she thought to herself. _Oh crap! How am I supposed to break up with him on a date?! Do I turn him down?!_

Blake, being Yang's heaven-sent mercy simply coughed awkwardly and leaned over. "I didn't mean to prowl, but we actually planned on going into the city Saturday."

"Oh" Jaune was somewhere between elated and devastated. _A swing and a miss. But at least I didn't get shot down._

" _ **Are your eyes even open?!**_ _"_ Summer demanded, hovering as violently as possible without physical form. She began to flicker and phase out. _"_ _ **What did Solomon always say?! People talk with their mouths, but speak with their bodies, you just have to listen with your eyes!**_ _"_

Jaune pushed the thought aside. Summer was just being dramatic, and anyway, that was just an invasion of privacy. If Yang wanted to tell him something, she would.

He just had to trust her, she had his hat after all. If he couldn't trust her, who could he trust?

"...and that's all for today class! Your next lesson is combat class with Ms. Goodwitch, the She-demon of the dungeon dimension, Please note, anything you leave behind will be used either as kindling or as makeshift survival implements for the rest of my classes, good day." The lemmings milled out with a muted mutter denoting general aliveness. Something in the horde was alive, whether it was a person or not was a different story.

As combat class grew nearer, it became more apparent that a small circle was opening up about a foot around Jaune, just enough to show respect, but not too much as to raise suspicion. Cardin hobbled past and sent a withering glare in Jaune's direction, but didn't dare step too close.

They were scared of him, and that was half the battle. He neared his friends and smiled at Pyrrha who returned the gesture beatifically. Ruby and Nora stood to both sides of Ren and skipped along, dragging him through the hall against his will. Yang's hands fidgeted at her side as she hovered near Blake and Weiss.

Changing was quick and painless when no one dared look at you too long for fear of having their own legs broken. His duster fluttered over his shoulder dramatically and he stalked out without a word. He saw Yang across the room and marveled at how she always seemed to look gorgeous in his hat.

He made his way to the stands and sat to Yang's left, slowly and delicately taking her hand, pulling a move from Roman's handbook, he ran his thumb across her knuckles until she gave a shudder and pulled back quickly. _Did I do it wrong?! Did I read the situation wrong?! Is it too soon?! I mean, Roman and Neo did know each other longer, but it's a girlfriend-boyfriend thing, it's all relative._

He was wrong on two of three accounts. He did not, in fact, do it wrong, taking her hand did make Yang fluster and blush. He did read the situation wrong, but solely on the principle that she wanted to drop him and he wanted the relationship to work out. Finally, relationships are not relative, nor should they ever be between relatives, that's just gross guys, seriously.

Yang had to actively resist the urge to move her hand closer to his. She barely kept her hands to herself as she kept her eyes locked straight ahead. After what felt like hours of self-control, Yang was rewarded by a call from Ms. Goodwitch. "Ms. Xiao Long, you will be facing Mr. Napa. Please come to the stage."

The fight was over in two minutes and thirteen seconds. Napa's (admittedly impressive) understanding of dust did little to counter Yang's killer right hook, much less her left uppercut followed by a stiff elbow to the temple and a roundhouse kick to the back of the head

Jaune's hat barely even fluttered throughout the whole fight as she whirled in and out of spouts of flame and ice. "That was awesome!" Nora cheered as Yang returned, jumping up and heading down to the stage herself as her name appeared on the screen.

Jaune had never seen Yang fight before, and now he was even more infatuated with her than ever. Love was _much_ too strong a word for this, Jaune's time with Roman and Neo had taught him what love was, and that hat didn't dictate that, nor did it activate some secret, hormone altering love potion, it was just a tradition. Like the Singing Sticks, and the Citadel King.

"Nora Valkyrie wins by ring out." Goodwitch declared, and Jaune realized that his existential epiphany had distracted him from his teammate's victory. "Oh god, not again."

The class looked at the randomized and winced as a collective. It was Jaune Arc against a huge teen named Carrot and a lithe girl named Violet. It did not look good for either side. Carrot easily topped 6' 6", and Violet twirled a scalpel the size of a spear with ease. Jaune, however, was brutal, merciless and already quite infamous for his showing with Cardin. "Begin."

Jaune drew both his sword and his shield and fell into a speed oriented stance, his arm already chambered to strike out should he need to. He began a careful approach on the duo, expecting an attack at any time. It came when he was least prepared for it. He had just lifted his back foot to move it forward when the scalpel slid across his shield, forcing him back a couple steps. Carrot followed up with a vertical slice that would have broken Jaune's guard even more so if he hadn't already slipped to Carrot's side, jabbing the point of his heater shield into Carrot's kidney and the pommel of his sword into the middle of Carrot's back. Violet was on him before he could take advantage of Carrot's moment of weakness, however, jabbing out at him with startling accuracy and worrying speed.

Jaune didn't step back so much as lift his feet off the ground and let the force of Violet's blow send him away from the pair, hiscoat giving him an extra yard. Carrot was almost at fifty percent while Violet was completely full. Time to get clever. Jaune charged Violet and brought his shield up to his left side, purposefully leaving his dominant arm open. Violet took the bait and stabbed toward Jaune, completely thrown off when he dropped his sword, wrapped his arm around the shaft of her spear and drop kicked her away from him. She kept the spear, at the expense of her arm. She could hardly feel it, much less move her fingers, and her aura had taken quite the hit too.

Carrot hadn't been inactive while this had gone down, however. He grabbed Jaune's sword from the ground and brought both around for a swing that would have ring outed any lesser man, but Jaune was ready for it, and he-

-And he didn't see Violet coming until she knocked him flat on his face from his hunched place about to send a left hook into Carrot's knee, her scalpel was in her off arm, but Jaune wasn't a hard target down there. Jaune was down, laying face first in a heap on the floor, but as the pair turned to see what his aura levels were, neither saw him jump up and wrap his arm around Carrot's throat until it was too late. Carrot tried to stand, but Jaune simply drove his toes into the back of his knee and slam him to the ground, slowly fading from consciousness.

Violet was next, whirling to face Jaune as he leapt at her, but instead of going straight on the offensive, he slid between her legs to his sword and leapt back to his feet, his arm already whipping around, practically whistling through the air as he jabbed his fingers into her face and poked her eyes, leaving her clutching her face, and thusly unprepared for the uppercut that took her breath away, or the hammer blow that followed.

The lights surrounding the stage turned on and Jaune's head swam, that blow from Viollllllllut...Hre rrrrlr nyddded tu laii dwnn.

* * *

As Jaune came to, it was his team that greeted him, alongside the general moaning that was probably him and a painfully bright light. "His pupils are dilating, and he's making vague person noises, you can take him back to your dorm, keep him hydrated, and don't let him choke on his own vomit.

"I can barely process all of the empathy your words contain." Jaune groaned, his headache making him especially cranky.

"I've seen legitimately beaten and malnourished children come into hospitals in droves from destroyed settlements and broken homes, and you little shitheads do this to each other for nothing but good grades and the moral high ground of proclaimed altruism. So, no, I don't get paid to be nice. Just to make sure you don't end up dead." The doctor turned away from the students and waved them off distractedly. Jaune stood with great difficulty and moved toward the infirmary door, but Ren stopped him and turned to the doctor, only to stop and shake his head, continuing with his team.

The walk back to team JNPR's dorm was an arduous one. Jaune had to stop occasionally to heave in a nearby waste basket, and the rare bystander would smirk smugly as they watched a brutal savage laid low by a head injury like that. Their smiles soon dwindled upon the looks of his teammates. Ren's expression was measured and calm, but Nora's ferocity more than made up for it. No one would dare say a word against Pyrrha Nikos even without the cold glare that she bore, but with it, she was even more of a thwarting force against insult. Jaune only wished that tonight would be more productive, and hopefully by then, his ears would no longer be ringing.

Hopefully.


	7. Chapter 7

So, I do this a lot because I've just gone through some serious creative writing classes and I want to stretch my wings again, so I'm going to start rewriting a few of my stories.

Dust of the Earth: Dust of the Earth will no longer be part of the Princes of the Multiverse shtick.

Cowboys and Huntsmen: This will be rewritten and revamped to avoid Gary Stu-ing Jaune. Also, the Yang thing blew up way too quickly.

Son of Metis: Seriously back burner material.

I've also developed a new story which will be up soon. If you like it, review and tell me what you think.


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